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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Measurement Of Speed Of Sound Profile Using Laaces Balloon, Zhuang Li, Brett Schaefer, Brian Schaefer, William Dever, Tyler Morgan, Matthew Foltz
Measurement Of Speed Of Sound Profile Using Laaces Balloon, Zhuang Li, Brett Schaefer, Brian Schaefer, William Dever, Tyler Morgan, Matthew Foltz
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
The goal of this mission is to test the speed of sound at different altitudes and ultimately at a maximum height of 100,000 feet (30 km). In conjunction with this testing, environmental parameters including temperature, pressure, and humidity are measured and used to calculate the speed of sound to compare to the measured results. The team constructed the payload “Dorothy” using polystyrene foam due to its lightweight and thermal isolation property. An ultrasonic sensor with a reflection mirror were installed outside payload box to measure speed of sound. All the sensors were calibrated. Software for the project was developed in …
How Iridium Satellite Tracker Model 9602-Lp Asset Affects Span Of Control In High Altitidue Balloning, Steven Hamby
How Iridium Satellite Tracker Model 9602-Lp Asset Affects Span Of Control In High Altitidue Balloning, Steven Hamby
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
The Irdium Satelitte Network has greatly increased safety in the ballooning field by enabling a greater span of control in flight awarness and termination. This enhanced awareness stems from accurate high interval GPS coordinates that can be integrated into ground station tracking software. The Iridium Network creates the ability to send activation commands remotely with high reliabilty using emails. Additionally this feature has the ability to use local rf transmiters and recievers to increase the flexibilty of cutdown designs. The Iridium Modems provides significant coverage regardless of altitude and loss of ground communication. It is marketed at econmical price point …
Multiple Camera Control Using An Octaplexer In A 5.8 Ghz Video System, Uciel Garcia Olmedo, Skylar Tamke
Multiple Camera Control Using An Octaplexer In A 5.8 Ghz Video System, Uciel Garcia Olmedo, Skylar Tamke
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
One of the greatest challenges with camera systems on High-Altitude Balloons (HAB) is to control the direction that they point. This is because the payload boxes constantly rotate during the flight. While mechanical gambles are normally used, an electronic gambled was designed using multiple cameras and a series of multiplexers. The design consists of 8 version 1 pi cameras, connected through a series of multiplexers and interfacing with an IMU to tell the direction the cameras are facing. This design attaches to the Raspberry Pi through the GPIO pins. The multiplexers turn on the camera facing the orientation desired and …
Ground Station Tracking System, Garret Hilton, Carter Mciver, Steven Hamby, Trevor Gahl, Casey Coffman, David Schwehr
Ground Station Tracking System, Garret Hilton, Carter Mciver, Steven Hamby, Trevor Gahl, Casey Coffman, David Schwehr
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
One of the Eclipse Ballooning Project’s main goals was to stream live video of the eclipse to the internet. To accomplish this task a tracking antenna was built to follow the balloon payload. As an added challenge, the task had to be completed on a budget. The “ground station” is the center for communication between the payload and user. This system utilizes GPS position reports from the payload via the iridium network to determine the balloons position. The computer algorithm takes in additional GPS and IMU data from the ground station to determine a relative heading to orientate the antenna …
2017 Eclipse Rfd-900 Still Image System, Tristan Running Crane, Uciel Garcia Olmedo, David Schwehr
2017 Eclipse Rfd-900 Still Image System, Tristan Running Crane, Uciel Garcia Olmedo, David Schwehr
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
As part of the NASA Space Grant 2017 Eclipse Ballooning Project, Montana Space Grant Consortium designed a camera system capable of transmitting still images from a balloon borne payload to a remote ground station via a RFD-900 radio. This payload consists of a Raspberry Pi, a Raspberry Pi camera, custom power supply and a RFD 900MHz radio. This system was designed to record pictures at high and low resolution at altitude. The low resolution images could be selected for downlinking back to the ground via the radio, while the high resolution pictures were saved to the Raspberry Pi memory card. …
University Of Maine High Altitude Ballooning Eclipse Experience, Kent Seneres, Derek Haas, William Bessette, Richard Eason
University Of Maine High Altitude Ballooning Eclipse Experience, Kent Seneres, Derek Haas, William Bessette, Richard Eason
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
The University of Maine High Altitude Ballooning (UMHAB) team launched two balloons during the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse, producing a consistent online video stream of the eclipse to an altitude of 110,000 feet. This paper discusses the key factors that lead to a successful launch and recovery, such as thorough testing procedures, redesign of components, choice of launch site, and a touch of luck. In preparation for the event, the team tested the equipment and code over eleven balloon launches. Airplane based testing and land testing were conducted for the tracking and video stream components. The payloads and …
Placing A High-Altitude Balloon In The Path Of Totality, Nicholas Jordan, Christopher Helmerich
Placing A High-Altitude Balloon In The Path Of Totality, Nicholas Jordan, Christopher Helmerich
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
The UAH Space Hardware Club had conducted 70 flights prior to the Eclipse. In this time, we have gained valuable skills and experience which we have put into practice and passed on through the years. We put these skills into practice for the Eclipse. Our first challenge was finding where to launch. We started out by looking for suitable locations inside totality. We also examined a map of totality at 80,000 ft. We then ran predictions based on past weather during that time of year. By compiling multiple past predictions, we eliminated possible launch sites. We had multiple payloads, some …