Development of Power Plant Trio CanSat Platform Powered by Solar, Wind and Piezo Energy Harvesting Systems

This paper presents the Power Plant Trio (PPT) Can Satellite (CanSat) platform developed by the University of Chosun, South Korea, with a focus on energy harvesting systems. The main objective of this project is to confirm the effectiveness of solar, wind and piezoelectric energy harvesting systems, which are utilized for LED lighting and activating a self-powered MEMS-based sensor module. The secondary objective of this project is to wirelessly transmit collected solar energy using the magnetic resonance method. To confirm compliance with the design requirements and to validate the effectiveness of the system, several pre-launch tests were conducted on-ground. The subsequent results of the CanSat flight test demonstrated that the proposed PPT CanSat system fulfills all of the required functions, satisfying the success criteria of the mission. The energy harvesting technologies introduced in this study can be effective for enhancing the power generation capability of spacecraft; in particular, for CubeSats with an extremely restricted size and available area for the installation of solar cells.

Automated summary

This study introduces the Power Plant Trio (PPT) CanSat platform developed by the University of Chosun, South Korea, focusing on the evaluation of solar, wind, and piezoelectric energy harvesting systems, as well as wireless transmission of solar energy through magnetic resonance. Ground tests confirmed compliance with design requirements and effectiveness of the system.