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Rocket Launch

Rocket Launch

In preparation for our final launch, we built a test rocket with prototypes on-board. This allowed us to test everything and find out what will work, what won’t, what should have worked and what we need to change and fix before the final deadline.

YICTE

YICTE

YICTE – Young ICT Explorers. YICTE is a competition run all around Australia getting students who love ICT and anything in general apply their knowledge and abilities to solve real world issues.

PCB Design

The PCB design is in its final stages and we are running through all of our design files with a fine tooth comb.

Our circuit board must have an Intel Edison connector, GPS, and a battery connector. Most of the other components on the board aren’t necessary but they would be great to have. These include such things as PWM output connectors, a USB connector, I²C, and a UART port. So in total our circuit board consists of a few connectors and port (Edison, USB, Battery in, PWM, I²C, UART, GPS and SD Card), 2 logic level shifters, a 9DOF (9 Degrees Of Freedom), and a Barometer.

 

Below is an image of what the file looks like from the PCB editor I am using. Everything in red is the top copper layer, everything in blue is the bottom layer of copper, and things in other colours (grey and black) represent the outlines of components, silk screen and the board dimensions. pcb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From this file I will export gerber files which contain all of the holes, silkscreen, solder-mask, pads, vias and everything else necessary fro the manufacturer to create the board.

The boards have altered slightly from what is shown here, but not too much. Our most recent files have been sent out to our manufacturer and we should receive them in a few weeks. The PCBs will look similar to the images below.

PCB Top side PCB Bottom side

 

Rudder Design

We wanted to make our balloon payload steerable. this was going to be achieved with a rudder, and here are some details on how we were going to achieve it.

Circuit Design

Circuit Design

Building a circuit take quite a bit of time and effort. A schematic has to be constructed – which is a diagram showing the links between all of the electronics. A prototype should be built and tested, the schematic refined and then finally the PCB 

Setting Up the Code

Setting Up the Code

We’ve started working on the data logging side of the software, and a working prototype will be complete – of both software and hardware – in time for our YICTE competition entry.

We have decided on using C++ and Arduino as the programming languages for the software. This is because both Madeleine and I are familiar with Arduino and C++ and we know we can run this software type on our micro-controller – the Intel® Edison.

The first section of the code we have started to build is the “Setup” loop, as based off our state machine. This will contain all of the pre-flight checks and warn us if anything is disconnected or not working. Detecting these problems before the launch is vital and will allow us to know whether any hardware needs fixing right before the launch.

Within the loop, it initialises the serial ports and baud rate, creates the SD card data file and runs a sensor check. Below is a code snippet of what the setup loop will look like.

[code id=”code_id” language=”cpp”]
void setup() {

Serial.begin(9600);

while (!SD.begin(4)) { // check to see whether the SD card can be accessed
Serial.println("SD card inaccessable.");
delay(1000); //wait one second before trying again
}

for (int i =0; i++) {
//("gasp%d.csv", i)
if (!SD.exists(file)) { //check whether the new file already exists
break;
}
else {
Serial.print(file);
Serial.println(" already exists. Attempting File \"gasp%d.csv\". ", i+1);
}}

Serial.print("Creating ");
Serial.println(file);

// file = filename, f = actual file
File f = SD.open(file, FILE_WRITE);

if (f == NULL) {
Serial.println("File could not be accessed.");
while (true) {
delay(1000);
}
}
// load sensors
Serial.println("Loading Sensors…");

for (int i = 0; i < NUM_SENS; i++) {
Serial.print("Loading ");
Serial.print(i);
Serial.println("…");
Sensor* sensor = sensor[i]
}
}
[/code]

Once the setup loop is complete it will be time to work on the body of the data logging software – the part that actually logs the data. This code will be contained inside the main loop or “loop()” as Arduino defines it as.

After all of the main logging software has been completed we will undergo thorough testing to ensure that the addresses and connections of the hardware match the addresses used inside the software. Hopefully, this will prevent the software from failing unless under extreme external circumstances – like if the power is off (or someone’s bad soldering).

 

State Machine

A state machine – or Finite state machine (FSM) – is a way to model computations, which is commonly used in programming and logic circuits. In relation to programming, each state is a section of code or a function and each transition is a the method 

Project Stages

Stages There are 3 stages to our project: Design and Creation Launch Results Creation (July-September) The creation stage consists of the team designing and building each of their parts of the project, as well as collaboration and integration to complete the weather balloon. Each team member 

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Introduction to G(A)SP

Introduction to G(A)SP

Welcome to the G(A)SP project. G(A)SP stands for Gungahlin (Almost) Space Project, and it is being designed a run by Gungahlin College students. Find out more about what the project actually is and what we plan to do.