Skeye

Personnel John Spurgeon Daren Dotson Michael Bailee Collins

Skeye We began with a minimalistic video camcorder from Argus. We found it to be 126 grams with 4 lithium- ion AAA batteries.

We removed the case and all unnecessary components. We changed the incase batteries pack for a separate batteries hold with a switch.

We mounted the circuit board to the pay load using wooden dowels as structural support and as a system of restricted slats to keep the camera and its components in place. To attain a better field of view, we attached the camera lens directly to a 180 degree door peephole fish eye lens.

Our goal was to be able to achieve an angle that is able to capture the horizon as well as the balloon and the payloads above us. With further observation we concluded that the best angle to do this would be a 30 degree inward slant. With this, we were able o maintain a proper seal with a 2 by 2 by 1.5 inch triangle positioned at the 30 degree angle.

Goal The main goal of our payload skeye, is to record flight data and video the mission from take off to the point of landing. We want to do this in order to develop a better understanding of how the project works and to use this data to better enable it to be better for future missions.

Testing To ensure that our payload would be ready for the flight, we have performed several test which included endurance testing on the batteries, and s time test. These test showed us that we can film up to 4 hours and that the batteries power of the lithium-ion batteries is enough to last throughout the whole mission.

Testing Along with the endurance testing we performed impact and stress tests. These tests were used to test the limits of the physical performance of our payload which include the dangers of impact at a high rate of speed and height.

Fixed Issues We also have come up with solutions to problems we came across in testing which include condensation and frost on the lens and heavy damage due to hard impact. To fix the condensation and frost issues we plan to use hand warmers to keep a constant temperature throughout the payload to keep any moisture on or around the lens in a liquid state to prevent the event of freezing. In addition to the hand warmers, we have enclosed multiple silicon Gel packets to remove moisture from the inside of the payload.

Fixed Issues Cont. We also came across a problem that may arise due to the lower amount of light that we may come across in the upper atmosphere. To resolve this we ensured that our camera has an auto exposure correction feature which will prevent a whiteout or blackout should a situation with the lighting arise. In order to ensure that our data also is safely gathered, the video is automatically stored on a 1 Gig SD memory card that will survive heavy impact at a high rate of speed.

Conclusion In conclusion, our group is here to help improve the ACES mission as a whole for future flights. We want to make the program better and record any malfunctions that are experienced during the flight