PETG: Touch the sky
“Dotkni se vesmíru” meaning “Touch the universe” is a unique project under the auspices of the STEAM Academy, which was created in the Czech Republic and which, at least in Europe, has no parallels. At Fillamentum we wanted to go back to school for a while, because measuring cosmic rays, taking pictures of planet Earth, searching for probes and listening to radio signals in space is just cool. For this project, Fillamentum supplied the highest quality PETG material to print hundreds of antenna components for stratospheric balloons.
Opening a window to universe with us is as easy as opening a textbook
Already in the spring of 2021, a total of 45 schools created separate competition teams under the guidance of teachers and technical support of STEAM Academy. Their students will launch 45 stratospheric balloons with built-in probes that can measure cosmic radiation, take pictures or listen to radio signals. The total weight of one balloon is 1 kg including helium, parachute, and payload. The payload consists of a hollow polystyrene ball with a diameter of 200 mm with a maximum weight of 300 grams /which is about 8 slices of ham for illustration/, where all the electronics (humidity, height and pressure detectors, camera, and GPS for telemetry) can fit. And, of course, we must not forget the part printed in PETG – an important ring in which the electronics is attached.
Each balloon has gone through the common routine under the Air Traffic Act and must meet all its conditions. For safety reasons, the balloons are filled with helium. The date for the take-off of the balloons had to be approved by the Institute for Civil Aviation, all coordination took place in accordance with the Air Traffic Act. The actual launching of the balloons takes place from September and October 2022. Watching the balloons is possible for anyone here.
As part of the project, kids keep an on-board project diary, study topics such as meteorology, telemetry, gravity, they can program and partially change the parameters of the probe, take pictures and videos of the curvature of the Earth. “The project is designed the way children feel the wonderful touch of universe and stand in awe of the fact that it was their balloon that took pictures of the planet Earth,” Rostislav Konopa, a founder of STEAM Academy, describes the project.
And that’s not all. The probe on the balloons will be able to serve the schools as a remote weather station even after being picked up. The project is planned functionally and economically not only for schools, but also for the environment. “This project is also quite exceptional because it also connects and demonstrates various polytechnic educational institutions, schools and the public. We want to use it to show that schools can be educated in a way other than face-to-face teaching and that STEAM education has meaning and a concrete form,” Mr. Konopa says about the project.
The expert partner and collaborator is the Hydrometeorological Institute in Libuš, the network of planetariums /Planetum/ and the Institute of Nuclear Physics. More details can be found on the website of the project dotknisevesmiru.cz. The 11-12 December is important for all participants and fans of the project, because it will be dedicated to conferences and evaluation in the representative premises of the planetarium.
STEAM Academy
STEAM (Science, Technologies, Engineering, Arts, Math) Academy was created as an educational startup that aims to change Czech education in polytechnic education, especially in regular schools that do not have a technical background. It is made up of scouts, educators and teams of developers who participate in the most interesting projects in the Czech Republic.