NSE-14: Live Stream From 100,000 Feet
ArduSat Payload Test Launch with Team Prometheus - Live September 22, 10am CDT
Updates
A little cold pizza for breakfast in the Team Prometheus workshop
September 16, 2012
12:15 CDT
My first update from Lampasas! I flew in from Frankfurt last night, landing at around 21:00 after a solid 26 hours traveling. This afternoon I'll be building the website for the livestream, to put the live video feed, live chat, and live data stream all on the same page. We'll be using Team Prometheus' LiveStream account for the launch, but it will all be embedded on our homepage here along with a livechat.
This morning Jeroen has been coding, tweaking the sensor polling and fixing issues with data logging on the SD card. This afternoon he'll be working on communication protocols over the payload radios we'll be picking up from Austin tomorrow.
Monroe from Team Prometheus is building the mounting motor assembly for the balloon, so that we'll be able to steer the payload camera from mission control during the flight and take a look around. If all goes according to plan, we'll be able to peek inside the payload compartment and check out the electronics, and pan around outside to look up at the balloon or down towards the Earth.
The rain has been coming down all day, but the forecast is for clear skies all week and next weekend for the launch - let's hope that keeps up!
Monroe cutting brackets for the camera mount
September 17, 2012
13:00 CDT
It's been a busy morning in the workshop - Monroe has been hard at work building brackets for the camera mount, and I've been outside (thanks to the nice sunny weather!) cutting parts for the tracking antenna assembly for our ground station.
Jeroen got the SD data logging working last night, and moved on to debugging the interface between the spectrometer from MySpectral and the ArduSat payload Arduinos. He managed to get it working a few minutes ago: the spectrometer is now sending data to the Arduinos and responding to the LED test setup he wired this morning. We'll likely add the test setup to the balloon for the flight, so we can calibrate the spectrometer in the air.
It's nice to see some viewers on the livestream and the live chat - if you've got any questions you want to ask or if you want a closer look at what we're making, just drop us a line and we'll answer back when we see the message (Monroe has been pretty good at keeping an eye on the chat)!
Jeroen's spectrometer test setup, connected to the ArduSat payload prototype
Cutting the lower turntable plate for the ground antenna tracking assembly
September 17, 2012
22:00 CDT
It's great to see some new viewers on the live stream and on the live chat! We had some requests for pictures of the payload package that will fly on Saturday, and I'll post some pictures of it first thing in the morning - it was all wired up to some extra Arduinos for debugging tonight, and I want to show them in the version that will actually fly.
I made some good progress on the antenna tracking rig in the afternoon (and earned a nice sunburn in the process) - the base frame is all assembled and ready for finishing. Tomorrow morning I'll start assembling the turntable and attaching the motors, so that the antennas and telescope can auto-track the balloon in flight. I'll be sure to post pictures as the assemblies get closer to finished!
Monroe finished building the camera assembly for the balloon late in the afternoon, and tomorrow morning he is going to start building the harness to give it a reasonable range of motion without any worries of it tangling. Once he finished the camera mount hardware, he also got a good start on the 900 MHz antenna for the video link.
Hope to see you on the live chat tomorrow morning, we'll be available to answer any questions about the flight this Saturday or the ArduSat!
The assembled balloon camera mounting/pointing assembly
Work-in-progress: the ground antenna for the 900 MHz link
September 18, 2012
12:00 CDT
As promised, below is a closer picture of the complete setup that will fly on the balloon this weekend. The three green cards on the left are representative of what will eventually fly on the satellite - the exact layout for the satellite version will change based on the results of the tests. The large black object on top is the enclosure for the spectrometer, and the blue Arduino Jeroen is using for debugging on the ground.
I've been outside most of the morning attaching the bearings to the antenna tracking mount - the goal for today is to have the yaw mechanism for the tracking assembly finished, with the motor attached.
Monroe as been building antennas all day - the picture on the right shows his current progress on the ground antenna for the 900 MHz link, and this afternoon he'll be working quadrifilar antennas for the air side.
The ArduSat payload prototype set to fly on the balloon this weeken
Another work-in-progress: the ground antenna pointing assembly, now with the pitch motor mounted
September 19, 2012
13:15 CDT
Another hot and sunny morning in Lampasas! I've taken advantage of the nice weather and been working mostly outside, to keep the amount of sawdust in the workshop to a minimum. The ground antenna pointing/tracking assembly is nearing completion, with the main structure complete and the first of two pointing motors mounted to the frame.
The motors are power-window motors salvaged from a pair Chevy trucks in the local pick-your-part. One of them will control the up-and-down pitch angle of the ArduPilot software, so that the ground antennas and telescope will automatically track the balloon in flight.
Speaking of antennas, Monroe is still building antennas for the air and ground side - there will be three independent radio links to the balloon during the flight, which means a total of six antennas are needed.
It will be a late night at the workshop tonight, but look for another update this evening when we finally pack up for the night!
Jeroen posing with one of the three helical antennas for the ground end of the connection
The salvaged pitch motor, awaiting wiring
The re-machined coupling, connecting the pitch motor to the shaft that will hold the antennas
The ArduSat payload communicating sensor data to the Arduino Mega through the 2.4 GHz radios
September 19, 2012
21:30 CDT
We're not yet calling it a night, but it seemed a perfect time to do an update anyway! This afternoon I ran into a bit of a snag with the pitch motors: the coupling between the large plate gear and the pitch dowell started to slip when we mounted the antenna assembly to it. It was nothing a bit of time on the lathe couldn't solve - I machined a new coupling (which I'm proudly showing off in the picture below), and Monroe will be re-welding the shaft onto the plate.
In the meantime, Jeroen hooked up the payload to the 2.4 GHz radios that will be used to transmit the sensor data during the test. After a bit of coding time, the radios are now communicating with each other, and right before I sat down to write the update he succeeded in getting the payload to communicate sensor data back to his computer over the radio connection. The next step will be to replace the little duck antennas shown in the picture with the full-sized helical antennas (once Monroe has finished machining them).
Only 60 hours to launch time!
The antenna-shaft coupling, awaiting epoxy and paint
September 20, 2012
13:00 CDT
Just a quick update this morning: I've connected the in-progress antenna assembly to the pitch shaft. The design is a bit tougher than usual, because the joint can't include any metal parts which would interfere with the antenna. Instead, we needed to use a combination of wooden dowels, PVC piping, and epoxy to made a nice sturdy connection that can support the antennas and transmit torque from the pitch motors.
Jeroen and I are off to Austin on a supply run this afternoon, to pick up antenna connectors, boosters, and other odds and ends that are needed for RF testing. In the meantime, Monroe is machining parts to connect the yaw motor to the tracking antenna assembly, and winding the remaining 2 quadfilnar antennas for the balloon.
Monroe in his happy place: cutting the profile to mesh with the yaw motor
