Team Flying Camels Nawar Chaker Paul Savage Tim Jacobs Pete Dokter Adam Swartley Capstone Project January 22, 2005

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Driftsonde System Overview The National Center for Atmospheric Research, NCAR, currently has a project involving a high altitude pressure balloon that periodically drops sensors from a payload These sensors are used to measure pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed from a height of 60,000 feet down to the surface These sensors send data back to the payload, which then relays to an iridium satellite and then finally transferred to a ground station The project currently is successful, with flight times of three days and twenty sensors

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Driftsonde System Iridium LEO Satellite Gondola (20-40 sonde capacity) ~16km mb © 2004 Copyright University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project © 2004 Copyright University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Driftsonde Components Flight train 1.Low cost polyethylene zero-pressure balloon (365 m 3 & 2,265 m 3 ) 2.Parachute 3.Radar reflector 4.Aircraft Transponder 5.Gondola Embedded Computer GPS Navigation System Flight level PTH sensor Ballast System Lithium battery power system Iridium, global coverage 2-way satellite system Dropsondes © 2004 Copyright University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project © 2004 Copyright University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project © 2004 Copyright University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project NSF THORPEX Briefing, D. Parsons, 11/21/03 © 2004 Copyright University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Excessive weight Battery Weight Heavy release mechanism Battery life limits flight times to 3-5 days Twenty sondes maximum per gondola Current System limitations

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Driftsonde Main Goals Extend flight time Increase maximum number of sondes to fifty Balloon size must remain the same

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Proposal Increase the available power by utilizing renewable energy sources, possibly solar Decrease the weight of the gondola by decreasing the weight of the power system, i.e. batteries Implement a monitoring system for the battery health Streamline a release mechanism to conserve weight

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Power System Options: Solar: Simplest Generator: Heavy Kinetic: Not enough energy Non-rechargeable batteries: Limited life span

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Power System Block diagram Solar Panels Power Conversion BatterySystem

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Power System Constraints 1. Cost: $200 materials only 2. Total weight 3Kg 3. Environment inside: -20C to +40C outside: -60 to +40,60,80C 4. Duration Scale from days operation 5. Operate at 50,000 to 80,000 feet (look at from a pressure standpoint) 6. System Electronics a. IRIDIUM (5V) b. Transponder (12V) (only operates below 48,000 feet) High power device c. System electronics (5V) d. Peak current (during drop of sondes) approximately 1.7 A 7. System health monitoring (if something goes wrong tell us what happed) battery voltage solar power voltage charge current discharge current 8. Operate independent on ground for 24 hours (14 A-hrs battery capacity)

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Health Monitor System Monitor battery voltage Solar power voltage Charge current Discharge current

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Release Mechanism Options Wireless RF : Expensive Wireless Induction: Simple and feasible Daisy Chain Bus: Simplest, but possibly heavy

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Release Mechanism Wireless Induction block diagram Balloon ControlTX Processor Driver TX Coil RX CoilEnvelope DetectorRX Processor

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Release Mechanism Daisy Chain block diagram Balloon Sonde 1Sonde 2Sonde 3 CANBUS (?) Element Burn (?)

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Release Mechanism Constraints 1. Control 50 Sondes! 2. Cost: $5 per sonde maximum $25 per Gondola maximum 3. Functions: Capable to turn sondes on or off and during drop always on. Turn on for testing in the field then turn off. 4. Cut the sondes from package 5. Command only one sonde at a time - power it release it

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Project Considerations Economic Aspects Environmental impact Sustainability Manufacturability Safety Impact on society

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Economic Aspects Will be used as a research item, so no real marketability Ball park figure for complete full system: $475 (Parts only)

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Environmental Impact Gondola is reusable Sondes are expendable and lost Environmental impact of sonde electronics is considered negligible

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Sustainability and Manufacturability Systems will be implemented from common parts, insuring a good supply Batteries may need to be replaced in gondola before flight Expect system to be robust enough to overcome manufacturing tolerances

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Safety Concerns Balloon release Existing safety procedures are already in place Our system does not introduce any new safety concerns Low power devices

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Impact on Society Information gathered from sondes assists weather predictions

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Division of Labor Sonde Release Mechanism Paul Savage Pete Dokter Power System and System Health Monitoring Nawar Chaker Tim Jacobs Adam Swartley All team members will be working on each aspect of the project, in order to have a firm understanding of all components

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Gantt Chart

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Project Risks and Contingencies Unsure if entire system will work together Unsure if we can interface our changes with their current system Unsure of power system components, such as battery charging and solar panels Unsure of temperature and pressure effects on the entire system Unknown if system will exceed target weight Unsure of total cost Plan to have all prototyping done by Milestone II Work harder and smarter

Team Flying CamelsCapstone Project Questions/ Comments?