Team ARC NASA Balloon Project Instructors: Dr. Timothy Frank and Rick Sparber Team Lead: Cesar Marin Team Members: Rahim Muhammad, and Austin Luo November 22, 2013

Essentially, our main goal in this project was to learn and use the engineering design process as a tool to meet the criteria and constraint for building a payload.

Main contents of payload enclosure

Overall Payload Features: General Features Payload Enclosure-Made of Black Foam Board Two BASIC Stamp Circuit Boards-For mechanical and electrical support of components HackHD Digital Camera-For capturing images while in the air (approx.$165.00) TMP External Temperature Sensor-For measuring heat and chill variations of the air at various altitudes (approx. $1.50) TMP Internal Temperature Sensor-For measuring temperature variations inside of the payload enclosure (approx. $1.50) Barometric Pressure Sensor-For measuring the maximum height that our payload will reach (approx. $10.95) Accelerometer-For capturing data of the maximum rotation of the payload during freefall back to the ground (approx. $9.95)

Overall Payload Features cont. Bonus Features Power Resistor-For keeping all of the components warm for optimal operation within the enclosure (approx. $3.95).NET Gadgeteer UV Radiation Sensor-Which measures the relation between air density and the transmission of UV Radiation(approx. $10.45) Voltage Divider-This component will tell the software to shut down the heater for the remainder of the flight to conserve energy High Pitch Buzzer-To help locate the payload once it hits the ground(approx. $1.95) Most components can be bought from SparkFun Electronics.

BASIC Stamp Circuit Boards during Population and Soldering Process

Questions to be answered by our sensors: At what height can the curvature of the earth clearly be seen? What is the maximum height that our payload will reach? What is the maximum rotation of the payload during freefall? What is the variance of the magnetosphere at different heights from the earth? How does air density affect transmission of UV Radiation specifically in comparison between 32,800ft and ground level? Will adding a loud buzzer helps us to better locate the payload?