Team Thumbs Up Launch Readiness Review

Nick LenkEddie CyrusBrian Inglis

Chase PrichettGreg NelsonJake Varey

11/11/08

Overview

• Launch is on November 15, 2008

• BalloonSat will take readings of photodiodes and solar panels every 5 seconds during flight

• Voltage Readings will be analyzed based on altitude to see how light increases as the BalloonSat enters near-space

Design Overview

• A cube of dimensions 16 x 16 x 16 cm with six photodiodes (one on each side) will be hooked up to HOBO data loggers taking voltage data

• A solar panel on each side (except bottom) will also take in light and we will record that voltage as well

• Heating circuit for warmth• Camera taking pictures every 20 seconds

Test Results

Photodiode Functionality Test

• Indoor– Multimeter read .25 V ± .01 for each of the

photodiodes

• Outdoor– Multimeter read .53 V ± .01 for each of the

photodiodes

Tests (cont.)

• Photodiode Calibration Test– Under a known amount of light (9 Watts) the

photodiodes read .41 V ± .01

• Solar Cell Calibration Test– Under the same light (9 Watts) the solar

panels read 1.42 V ± .05

Tests (cont.)

• Connected Functionality Test– A string of 3 photodiodes wired in series

outdoors read roughly 1.5 volts– We determined that we must wire the

photodiodes in strings of two to ensure that the HOBO limit of 2.5 volts is not reached

– Solar Panels must be also wired individually for same reason

Connected Functionality Test

Tests (cont.)

• HOBO/Photodiode Compatibility Test– Photodiodes were soldered to the wires of the

voltage cables which have HOBO compatible 2.5 mm plugs.

– Readings for this test were near to exactly what the volt-meter read

Tests (cont.)

• Digital Camera Test

– Camera was set to take pictures every 20 seconds for a period of 135 minutes and we collected the predicted 405 pictures

Tests (cont.)

• HOBO Test / Cold Test– 2.5 hour cold test

Internal Temperature

Heater Starts Helping

Camera Lens Retracts

HOBO/Cold Test (cont.)Relative Humidity

External Temperature

Ice block placednext to sensor

Structural Tests

Flight Predictions

• We predict an increase in voltage by as much as 100% (double) from ground to burst.

Worries

…

RFP/Proposal/Requirement Compliance Matrix

Requirement Optimism Prime CompletedUnder 1 Kilo 872.8 g √Under $150 $33.00 √Digital Camera A570IS Canon Digital

Camera√

Additional Experiment Photodiodes and Solar Panels

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Foam Core -Foam Core Structure-Foam insulation

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Metric Units Degrees Celsius, Meters

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No one getting hurt …