Difference between revisions of "HSIS/Status"

Revision as of 21:41, 12 April 2010

Status

Future Actions

• 4/9/10 - 1st Payload Flight Test Preparations
  • Prepare/purchase payload items.
  • Develop launch day flight checklists accordingly.
  • See who wants to be on the launch roster and for what.
  • See if UAH has payload space for us and how big.
    • Contact Bill Brown and ask who at UAH can let us know our maximum payload weights for the 4/10/10 flight.
  • Announce our launching plans on the front page of our website.

4/10/10 - 1st Test Flight

• BendersGame, brimstone, DraesDraco, Hanyan & Spacefelix were at the flight test. Spacefelix got to follow the tracking and recovery team, the rest supported from the ground station.
• Lessons Learned from Flight:
  • BendersGame:
    • Positives: Nothing lost.
    • Negatives: Nothing worked.
    • Camera: Somehow stopped taking pics while still being packed. Need to determine if this was because of unintended button pushing or if it was because of too much flipping and turning while packing.

The way it works with CHDK is that the shutter button starts and stops the script. For human convenience, the shutter buttons have a slightly higher profile, making them easy to click - and it is entirely possible that a zip tie dug into it once, and that caused it to pause the script. We need to find a way to package the camera such that none of the elements are pressing into any buttons. An ideal solution would be a foam enclosure of just the right size that we seal up after setting off the camera. I wonder if there is a way of doing this.

• • • Tracking / Cell phone: Stopped working even as we were packaging, but even if it had worked initially, we have no idea how it will hold up later on. I think everyone is in the favor of ditching the camera and going with radio chirpers. We need to investigate into this. Another thing is we need to make sure that the tracker keeps going for several hours, in case something goes wrong and our payload gets towed to another place. Even if it chirps once every 30 mins after the first few hours, we will at least have a general idea of where it is going. I am not exactly sure what the story for today was, I think Ethan can fill us in on the details.
    • Packaging: The foam board backing is not a bad idea, but I think we need to pair it with something more structural for a standalone launch. We can even string them up separately like the way they did to the payloads today, that way we can use the best packaging for each module without compromising the other ones. It would also be nice to work out a design such that we can pre-assemble parts and put them together with relative ease once we put in the main components - since there really is no way around having to activate components just before the launch. I guess we should aim for a build time less than what it takes to inflate the balloon, so we can start as the balloon is being inflated, and have everything ready to go as by the time the balloon is ready.
    • Component coupling: After today's experience I'd say that we want any component to rely as little as possible on any other component, to avoid catastrophic failures. We were not planning on any nonessential coupling any way, but I figured it was worth repeating.
    • Overall, I think it was a good learning experience. It would have been nicer if at least the camera had worked, but this is at least much better than losing the payload without knowing that the camera had stopped working too. So all in all, given that both of our components failed, this is possibly the best outcome we could have had. We'll at least know much better when we send out our own standalone payload. Saved us a fair amount of money too.
  • Spacefelix:
    • When the GPS device says it is at a specific location, due to position update delays, that could mean the position 15 minutes ago. So it is essential that you must not head towards the last position update, but wait for the payload position to become fixed before attempting recovery. It would also benefit us to have a GPS on the tracker and a GPS on the balloon so their positions are known to base station people. Altitude, speed and heading reporting is also helpful for determining the target's positions and what is happening to them.
    • Along with cell phones, ham radios will help with communication.
    • GPS is not 100% accurate. A reported position could mean the payload is within 100 feet of defined position. Also, the more cliffs/obstructions you have around you, there will be less GPS satellites recieved and GPS accuracy drops.
    • Recovery is not always ideal. The payload can land in rough terrain and require you to do tree-climbing, rock/mountain climbing and/or hiking. Be sure to wear/prepare gear for such an expedition. The trackers typically brought with them rope and ladders to reach such hard places.
    • Bring a driver's GPS (TomTom, etc.), a hand-held GPS and some kind of close-range tracking. They will comnplement each other for different phases of the search (driving there, homing in and looking around the brush). You can use these to home in to the position of the payload's reported GPS if you are using GPS tracking.
    • Not all roads to the payload show up on the GPS and offroading is sometimes a must. Use off-road capable vehicles and bring a detailed map of the region of terrain and roads so you can find a path.
    • The locals are really quite friendly and familiar with balloon tracking, but be sure to respect private property lines and ask permission before entering. Also, beware farm animals/dogs/bulls. You do not want to enter their territory during a search.
    • Bill Brown may allow us to piggy back again. We'll have to organize it with him.
    • Otherwise, our payload mostly stayed on and functional. When I picked it up, the phone was still on, but the camera had shut off. (Batteries were okay and full for both). The software is the issue as the tracking application on the phone shut down in-flight and the camera script stopped working due to an inadvertent button trigger.

4/9/10 - 1st Test Flight Preparations

• BendersGame, Spacefelix & DraesDraco met to prepare equipment and packaging for the 4/10/10 test flight. Did a couple tewt builds of the payload bubble-wrap packaging.

4/5/10 - Flight Test on 4/10 Readiness Review

• We concluded that the camera was ready to fly and the cell phone tracker with Mologogo will be flown as experimentation (backed up by Bill Brown's equipment). Spacefelix has called Bill Brown to find out who he can ask to get an idea of how much payload room we have on the UAH flight train.
• For the 4/10 payload test flight, we are looking to gain flight experience by watching how the pros do it and to get an idea to how our current photography and tracking methods measure up to our expectations (camera is expected to do fine, Brimstone says the cell phone tracker is expected to get tracking faults (as seen in ground testing, stops tracking after a certain time interval)). As it stands, the test payload will consist of our camera and the original cell phone tracker with Mologogo (just for experimentation), a hot hand*, and a flotation block. The electronics will be wrapped in a ziplock bag for waterproofing (foam block and hot hand outside) and then the whole package wrapped in bubble wrap for insulation. The pack will be taped shut, holes cut to expose the lense and the hot hand to the outside, and rigged with a spider wire bridal. An international orange streamer will be linked to the bridal. *As the hot hand requires oxygen to work, it will provide heating at low altitudes until the greenhouse effect of the bubble wrap takes over at high altitudes.
• For this flight, we will need to purchase bubble wrap and an orange streamer. All other material is already available to us.
• Our flight crew current consists of Spacefelix and maybe Justin. Spacefelix would like more to accompany us this Saturday.
• Brimstone and BendersGame said that there will be some time before they can develop an alternative to the cell phone tracking method. They will need to buy, assemble and test parts.

4/3/10 - Tags Complete

• Richard from MASEF brought in some tags with a team logo for us to use on our first test flight.

4/2/10 - Online Discussion

• Brimstone and BendersGame talked in the channel about alternatives to cell phone GPS tracking. Found out about the WhereAVR APRS Tracker (also at here). Apparently, it was built by a local Huntsville guy for balloon launches. If it compares in cost and weight to the cell phone and can do a better tracking job, it's ours. Brimstone and BendersGame will see about trying to get it on our 4/10 and 4/11 flight windows.
• Spacefelix gave HSIS presentation at 2600 meeting. Gained some interest and got a recommendation from one of the guys there that on-site hydrogen electrolysis would be a cheap way for us to get lifting gas (See List of Potential Materials - Source & Pricing, look under 'Lifting Gas - Helium or Hydrogen' -> 'On-Site Hydrogen Electrolysis = Cheap Hydrogen').

4/1/10 - 4/3 Launch Scrubbed

• Bill Brown gave notice that a 4/3 launch would have to be scrubbed due to weather (thunderstorms in vicinity) and conditions putting our landing site in the rugged mountains of TN. This would make for a difficult recovery, so the launch has been scrubbed.
• SCRUB NOTICE LIST:
  • Bill Brown - Concur
  • HSIS Team - Concur
  • J&M Cylinder - Concur
• Launch Alternatives
  • Bill Brown recommends launching on 4/10 or 4/11.
    • For a 4/10 launch, we can piggyback our payload on a UAH balloon for the UAH BalloonSat senior engineering class (there will be 2 or 3 of them and if there is room) to test the tracking and photography system. We will be backed up by UAH's and Bill Brown's teams for tracking and recovery and have a great learning opportunity to see how the pros do it. They even have rooms on the chase vehicles. We really ought to attend even if we don't fly. Launch place will be from the back parking lot of the NSSTC building on Lakeside Drive across from UAH campus. They will launch at 9am.
      • We need to get into contact with Bill Brown and see how much payload weight the can spare for us. Spacefelix will handle.
    • For the 4/11 launch, Bill Brown has offered for us to launch from his farmhouse 5 miles east of Hartselle. We will be flying in tandem with his payload with our balloon. He will provide the lifting gas.
• Notes: At least this scrub gives us more time to fix the kinks in our payload. Brimstone has expressed that he would like more time to work on the cell phone tracker. Also, we need to develop and test our secondary tracking systems and our water landing flotation.

3/31/10

NOTICE: IMPORANT UPDATES THAT IMPACT HOW AND WHEN WE LAUNCH for 4/3

• Bill Brown Conversation
  • Spacefelix gave Bill Brown a call in reply to his e-mail sent on 3/30/10 with his recommendations for our project. He said he would like to assist us on our first launch on 4/3/10. He will be preparing his own payload with tracking and photography his way and launch it in tandem with ours on the same balloon and parachute to do the same mission. This will give us a comparison for how well our payload has performed. Also, he will be sending a couple of his trackers to help us with the flight. For our first flight, he would like to meet us at J&M Cylinder in Hartselle at 10am and launch at 11am.
  • He also had some recommendations for us for future launches:
    • Do not use GPS, use a really cheap radio chirper on the balloon and track it with ham radios on the ground using direction finding and ground-based GPS to triangulate.
    • Bill has access to several very cheap parts for photography and tracking that could meet the competition's requirement for under $150/build for one vehicle.
    • Replace the hot hands and cooler with a wrap of three layers of bubble wrap. It will act like a greenhouse powered by uninterrupted sun at altitude during the day. He has flown and tested this successfully. It is able to keep the payload above freezing temperatures. Spacefelix will later modify our payload to use this.
    • He advised the original MIT team for Project Icarus and mentioned that the cell phone and camera method had a failure rate (loss of payload) of 3 in 4 since they would lose cell signal at altitude. Therefore, we had to be careful with following MIT's project.

3/30/10

• J&M cylindar said we can purchase only the amount of helium we use (and no tank) if we're willing to launch from their Hartselle location.
  • Owner of the company is Joe: 566-2714
  • Launch time would be Saturday 9AM (we can reschedule this if we'd like)
  • Hartselle Location: 818 Hwy 31 SW, Hartselle, AL 35640
    • Next to the indoor/outdoor flea market
• BendersGame did the freezer test on the camera. The camera was uninsulated, display and flash turned off manually and scripted to take a snap every 10 seconds. Results:
  • The test ran for slightly over 2.5 hours. [12:24 to 3:02, to be precise]. When I checked, the camera had turned itself off. On checking after a few minutes after taking it out, it still indicated that about 25% of batt life was still available.
  • The card was not full either.
  • This leads me to believe that the camera shut down because of either cold or moisture or both. Nonetheless, it ran for 2.5 hours in those conditions. Will we have a sustained cold and moist phase for that long on a (hopefully) clear day? If the camera can escape shutting down, we could possibly run for almost 3.5 hours. In any case, assuming the lens does not fog up, I think 2.5 hours is still good enough to beat our worst case scenario estimates.
    • From spacefelix, the coldest and moistest points in flight from the University of Wyonming's flight tracking software will only last for about half and hour on ascent and descent respectively. Also, since we only need to take pictures up to the apogee of flight, having the camera last two hours is acceptable.

3/29/10

• Jeff to call J&M and determine what the hours are
  • They close at 4:30 PM Omegix 09:29, 30 March 2010 (CDT)
• There will be a geocaching hide and seek with the payload after the 2600 meeting on Friday.
• BendersGame is looking into power saving options for the camera, like turning off the display
• $100 had been donated to the HSIS fund in the ML256 Treasury. There is a total of $120 earmarked as of this meeting.
• Brimstone has been working on the cell phone's supplementary battery pack. Looking at the weight of 4 stock AA cells (0.5 lbs) vs 4 D cells (1.5 lbs). We will be working with the AAs.
• BendersGame, Brimstone, CrashCart, JimShoe and Spacefelix performed drop testing with the cooler and parachutes loaded to 2 lbs. Tossed it off the top of the parking garage downtown (~150' drop). The vehicle was able to descent straight down without any rocking and land without damage.
• Brimstone, JimShoe & Spacefelix discussed a geocaching event after the 4/2 2600 Meeting to test the payload tracking. JimShoe would take the payload and hide it somewhere and the rest of us would set out to try and find it. We would then take it back to the shop and modify it from what we learned.
• Strages & Ratmandu recommended that we have secondary tracking methods on the payload if the cell phone fails. E.g. a radio beacon on the payload and a ground crew with a yagi antenna to find it, and an audio beeper for when we get close. With the parachutes rated to 2 lbs, and the payload with cooler, heating elements, tracking and photography weighing 1.7 lbs Also Spacefelix will paint the payload and parachutes international orange to help us find it.
• Richard from MASEF started designing a project logo to put on our vehicle when we launch.

3/26/10 T-8 Days to First Launch

• Spacefelix tagged up with PreauxPhoto on Helium status. He may be able to get us our helium in time for the 4/3 launch, but if not, we can push back the launch one week without issue.
• Spacefelix ordered two 800g weather balloons from Nova Lynx for $168.00 (cost is $69.00/ea). They will arrive on 4/2/10.
• Brimstone ran the cell phone endurance test in a freezer. With the phone broadcasting to find a tower and receiving and broadcasting GPS coordinates, the phone lasted 3 hours. Need a margin of 1 hour for a 2.5-hour flight. Therefore, have decided to have a supplementary battery pack hooked to the cell phone.

3/22/10 Build Meeting

• Matt got the phone working to report GPS position.
• Ethan, Rohan & Satyam got the parachute and gondola system working. Tested out several cheap parachute configurations and a foam cooler for a total payload weight of 2 lbs. (foam cooler gondola and two parachutes weigh 0.5 lbs., leaves 1.5 lbs. for electronics and heating elements). The best one has been two parachutes made out of the two sheet halves of a 30 gallon garbage bag with 2" diameter vent holes. Total estimated cost of gondola, parachutes, thermal control and insulation is $7.00.
• Have received link from Raymond on Jersey Balloon Launch. Using them as an example to follow for the development of our vehicle. They seem to have a very simple and lightweight setup.
• Omegix and Bender's measurements have the heaviest camera, cell phone, and charging cable weighing in at 0.7 lbs
• 03/22 night cell phone room-temperature endurance test resulted in a 4 hour battery life.

3/15/10 Meeting

• We now have three cameras at our disposal (see available materials)
• Matt is taking the Boost Mobile phone to the store to get it working
• Next meeting will be a build meeting instead of a planning meeting

3/8/10 Meeting

• Ratmandu - GSM/GPS unit we had has a damaged capacitor on the power supply. At the very least it could be fixed by replacing the capacitor. But replacing the power supply altogether would be very difficult.
• Team decided to use omegix's cell phone as the GPS and camera unit. He has requested an $80.00 collateral in the event the payload is lost or damaged.
• In the meanwhile, omegix will be reprogramming his cell phone to take pictures and report GPS positions.
• Spacefelix has put out a recommendation that purchases for equipment start the week of 3/15 so we can meet our 4/3 1st launch goal.

3/6/10 Unclaimed Baggage

• Shopping trip to Unclaimed Baggage came up with lots of potential cameras that may be compatible with CHDK. Will need another trip to confirm this.

3/5/10

• Event registration for competition has closed (ML256 is registered)
• Spacefelix contacted Jay on judge's duties and set up liaison. Also asked a few questions on the rules about minimum flight altitude requirements. Awaiting reply.
• Sourced cheap weather balloons and helium. Have e-mailed Bill for further information on how to size balloons and the necessary gas quantities for our flight.

3/4/10 HAL5

• HAL5 presentation by brimstone and omegix a success. Raised lots of positive interest in project.

3/1/10

• Accepted invitation from HAL5 President, Yohan Lo to give a 5-minute interest presentation at the 3/4/10 7pm HAL5 Meeting. Will see if we can raise funds, interest, contributions of equipment and people.
• Finished initial design of balloon and payload and list of design considerations. Currently on drawing in the shop. Also have an initial shopping list and a target budget of $150.00. Will raise project money from Makers and HAL5.

2/24/10

• Spacefelix contacted Bill Brown who does balloon launches. He has expressed interest in helping the project.

2/22/10 Meeting

• Registered on the HSIS website.
• Omegix has confirmed drug stores no longer carry disposable digital cameras
• Have GPS Tracker
• Held first meeting on 2/22/2010