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Full-Text Articles in Aeronautical Vehicles
Development Of A "Multi-Cut" Payload For Use In Stratospheric Ballooning Missions, James Flaten, Joey Habeck, Noah Biniek, Steven Smeaton, Austin Langford, Jordan Diers, Isaac Krieger
Development Of A "Multi-Cut" Payload For Use In Stratospheric Ballooning Missions, James Flaten, Joey Habeck, Noah Biniek, Steven Smeaton, Austin Langford, Jordan Diers, Isaac Krieger
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
The ability to cut strings (AKA lines) during stratospheric ballooning missions has a wide variety of uses including, but not limited to, (a) flight termination (i.e. cutting payloads away from the main balloon), (b) cutting away excess lift balloon(s) to slow ascent rate (and possibly achieve float), (c) cutting away ballast weights to slow descent rate or increase ascent rate, (d) cutting away burst balloon(s) on descent to avoid parachute entanglement, and (e) cutting away payloads which are intended to return to the ground independently, for experimental purposes. We report on the development of a “multi-cut” payload box that uses …
An Overview Of A Solar Eclipse Video Payload, Alexander M. Peters
An Overview Of A Solar Eclipse Video Payload, Alexander M. Peters
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
The HABET group at Iowa State University has been designing and building balloon payloads for years, giving students hands on experience with the engineering involved in creating and launching payloads to near space conditions. After attending the AHAC conference in 2014 the group begain to design a balloon for the 2017 solar eclipse. Working closely with the Space Grant Consortium’s design team, HABET has designed and completed preliminary testing on a Solar Eclipse Video payload. This payload uses multiple subsystems to complete the mission. The mission required an altitude control system, live video downlink, and a camera pointing system. Our …
Techniques For Payload Stabilization For Improved Photography During Stratospheric Balloon Flights, James Flaten, Christopher Gosch, Joseph (Benjamin) Habeck
Techniques For Payload Stabilization For Improved Photography During Stratospheric Balloon Flights, James Flaten, Christopher Gosch, Joseph (Benjamin) Habeck
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
Payload-box rotation and swing are perennial challenges to achieving high-quality photography (typically videography) during weather-balloon flights to “near-space” (AKA the stratosphere). Continuous camera motion can lead to blurred still photos, nearly-impossible-to-watch video footage, and precludes time-exposure photography required for most astronomical imaging even though altitudes are reached where the daytime sky appears black. Apparently-random payload rotation, persisting even at altitude, can often exceed servo rotation rates and frustrate attempts to do active camera pointing. Here we discuss mostly-passive payload stabilization strategies we, and our collaborators, have used to mitigate and dampen both swing and rotation of suspended payloads on high-altitude …
The “Stratospheric Cricket Keeper” – Developing A Simple“Life-Support” Payload For High-Altitude Balloon Missions, Lucas Kramer, Chad Serba, James Flaten
The “Stratospheric Cricket Keeper” – Developing A Simple“Life-Support” Payload For High-Altitude Balloon Missions, Lucas Kramer, Chad Serba, James Flaten
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
Exposure to the environmental conditions of “near-space” (AKA the stratosphere) is quickly fatal to nearly all forms of animal life. It is even challenging to build a sealable enclosure that can keep insects (crickets) alive through the dramatic and simultaneous pressure and temperature drops experienced during a high-altitude balloon mission. This poster describes the development of a rugged “cricket keeper” in which we were able to fly crickets to the stratosphere and, quoting the words of JFK, “return (them) safely to the earth!” This “life-support” payload had large windows (for the view!) and included Arduino-logged temperature and pressure sensors, an …
Parafoil Recovery Of A High Altitude Balloon Payload, Chelsea Velasquez, Zachariah Benedict
Parafoil Recovery Of A High Altitude Balloon Payload, Chelsea Velasquez, Zachariah Benedict
2017 Academic High Altitude Conference
The Recovery Guidance System is a subproject of Iowa State Universities’ High Altitude Ballooning Experiments in Technology (HABET) group. The system is designed to avoid common hazards during descent including large area objects such as populated areas and roadways, as well as smaller objects such as trees in a field, with an accuracy within tens of meters. RGS provides guidance for the payload using a two servo system aboard the payload in conjunction with GPS and radio communication. Navigation will be handled by a mixture of GPS and video analysis. For guidance, only longitudinal and directional dynamics of the payload-parafoil …