Team R3D3Final Presentation

Devon CampbellGreg McQuieKate KennedyHenk Wolda

Marisa AntunaNicole Ela

Tyler Smith12/1/11

Mission Overview

MISSION• Test and compare a solar panel power system and a propeller

power system• Measuring temperature• Taking pictures

 WHY?• To understand which power generation system is most effective

under different environments

Design Overview: Hardware

 

Gear Motor

Arduino Voltage Sensor

HOBO

Heater

Batteries

Camera

Design Overview - Hardware

 

Functional Block Diagram

 

Design OverviewHow it Worked• Propeller spins gear motor, generates current• voltage measured by voltage sensor• recorded by Arduino• Solar panels wired into voltage sensor• recorded by Arduino

Differences from Proposal• placement and shape of propeller• placement of solar panels

Successes•  Temperature Data

       • 467 pictures• Structure performed admirably• Great team work• Used our failure to gather info

 

  

Tropopause Burst

LaunchLanding

Failures

• Arduino Micro controller failed to operate • No experimental data collected• Propeller was no longer attached to the Cubesat• Internal components detached from walls• Internal temperature dropped below -10C• Camera shifted and disconnected during flight

 

Failure Analysis

• Failure was due to a high resistance solder joint on pin 8 of the MicroSD shield.

• Earlier tests had shown the MicroSD shield to be unreliable at initializing the SD card. Resetting the Arduino always had fixed the problems during our tests.

• Naturally, as we were preparing for the flight our normal fix no longer worked.

• Since the electronics occasionally worked and occasionally did not, we thought it had to be a hardware problem rather than a software problem.

• After testing and resoldering the bad connection, the BalloonSat runs flawlessly with no MicroSD initialization errors.

Failure Analysis (Continued)

• We believe that the propeller disconnected due to too much torque being applied perpendicular to the direction of its rotation in the jet stream. Reinforcing the propeller to make a better connection can solve this problem.

•  The failures with the internal components and camera we believe occured at burst. Judging from the pictures, the time the camera stopped working was right after burst. Therefore, we think all the electronics came disconnected at that time. More glue and tape can solve this problem.

•  Extra heaters and insulation can solve the problem with the internal temperature dropping below -10 degrees celcius.

Conclusions

Discoveries:• Solder joints are extremely important (need to check all solder

connections) • Electrical tape doesn't secure things as well as duct tape

 • Explore all possible causes of failure from tests

 • Flight was a lot more violent than previously expected (everything

really needs to be secure) Wrap Up:• didn't get any data about experiment• learned the value of testing• figured out what failed

             

 

Appendix

Lessons Learned• Test more• Tape everything securely •  Put more planning into designs before building• Real flight simulation

 To get different results we would...•  Test the hardware thoroughly•  Create a different propeller using different materials or different

design

Appendix

Ready to Fly (Take 2)• Storage: payload should be in safe area

                    Payload should not be resting on propeller• Activation: Before flight check batteries

                       Turn on heater and arduino switches                       Press the red button to turn on camera

Appendix

Requirements Compliance

AppendixMass Summary

Foam CoreInsulationHOBO Aluminum TapeVelcro/Hot GlueFlight TubeCameraSolar PanelsPropellerArduino UnoSD ShieldSD CardHeaterVoltmeterDC generator9 Volt Batteries

100303032613015135322551008122155

Item             Mass (g)

Total Mass893 grams(excess mass was borrowed from another team)

Appendix

Cost Summary

Solar PanelsPropellerArduino UnoSD ShieldSD CardVoltmeterDC generator9 Volt BatteriesDry Ice

81.45Made29.9516.95Donated61.85 31.98Donated5

Item                  Cost                         (including shipping)

Total cost:  $227.18

Appendix

Message to Next SemesterGateway to Space was a good introduction to aerospace engineering because it covered multiple aspects of the discipline.  It was a lot of work though and sticking to the scheduled is really important. Having a good team with members who attend meetings helps make the experience better.