What if an empty beverage can is turned into mini satellite transmitting captured data like temperature and pollution levels, quality of air and water, ultra-violet penetration and traffic congestion levels in a city? That is exactly what a young Bengaluru based entrepreneur is doing since the last four years.
Turning used cans into open-source data base
CanSat, this project, is a sounding rocket balloon payload built of open hardware like Arduino and Raspberry Pi with the entire satellite components assembled inside a 350 ml soda can, reported the Times of India. The data transmitted by these mini satellites can be used for research purposes as well as by civic bodies for better implementation of green initiatives.
Working of mini satellite
Suraj Kumar Jana, founder of OpenCube Labs and the creator of this project said: “I have converted Coke, Red Bull and beer cans into mini satellites creating an open-source data base on city parameters ranging from temperature to pollution levels. This mini satellite is launched from the Air Force base at Yelahanka, Bengaluru that takes the help of a parachute for a controlled descent to transmit captured data to the base station.”
“The CanSat project was launched in 2014 to provide students an experience of smallscale space missions through several workshops conducted across the city,” added Suraj who is also an alumni of BMS Institute of Technology, Bangalore.
