Download SMCC 3

Team ARC NASA
Balloon Project
Instructors: Dr. Timothy Frank and Rick Sparber
Team Lead: Cesar Marin
Team Members: Rahim Muhammad, and Austin Luo
November 22, 2013
Essentially, our main goal in this project was to learn
and use the engineering design process as a tool to
meet the criteria and constraint for building a
payload.
Main contents of payload enclosure
Overall Payload Features:
General Features
•
Payload Enclosure-Made of Black Foam Board
•
Two BASIC Stamp Circuit Boards-For mechanical and electrical support of
components
•
HackHD Digital Camera-For capturing images while in the air (approx.$165.00)
•
TMP External Temperature Sensor-For measuring heat and chill variations of
the air at various altitudes (approx. $1.50)
•
TMP Internal Temperature Sensor-For measuring temperature variations inside
of the payload enclosure (approx. $1.50)
•
Barometric Pressure Sensor-For measuring the maximum height that our
payload will reach (approx. $10.95)
•
Accelerometer-For capturing data of the maximum rotation of the payload during
freefall back to the ground (approx. $9.95)
Overall Payload Features cont.
Bonus Features
•
Power Resistor-For keeping all of the components warm for optimal
operation within the enclosure (approx. $3.95)
•
.NET Gadgeteer UV Radiation Sensor-Which measures the relation between
air density and the transmission of UV Radiation(approx. $10.45)
•
Voltage Divider-This component will tell the software to shut down the
heater for the remainder of the flight to conserve energy
•
High Pitch Buzzer-To help locate the payload once it hits the ground(approx.
$1.95)
Most components can be bought from SparkFun Electronics.
BASIC Stamp Circuit Boards during
Population and Soldering Process
Questions to be answered by our
sensors:
•
At what height can the curvature of the earth clearly be seen?
•
What is the maximum height that our payload will reach?
•
What is the maximum rotation of the payload during freefall?
•
What is the variance of the magnetosphere at different heights from the
earth?
•
How does air density affect transmission of UV Radiation specifically in
comparison between 32,800ft and ground level?
•
Will adding a loud buzzer helps us to better locate the payload?