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Updates in every corner - CAD, GPS, Parachutes, and more

11/27/2010

Let this post be an intermediate update on Project HAL progress.

The Thanksgiving break has led to quite a bit of conceptual work on the design of the rocket. I'm working on CAD models, which I did at first for the hell of it, thinking it was probably overkill, but it's really helped me to determine how I'm going to put the flipcam at the base of the rocket, since space there is really tight. I've also come up with an alternative GPS solution that isn't as full featured as what I had before, but gets the job done and does it for hundreds of dollars less. I've also been throwing around ideas for the parachute system, and coming up requirements for it.

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GPS frustrations

11/13/2010

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So this post I actually wrote on November 11. From now on the posts and post dates should be more consistent.

Hooking up the GPS chip has (surprise) been more difficult than I thought. Most of the difficulty has been understanding how it works – apparently you need to connect more than just the power, TX, RX, and ground pins. Also, it’s very difficult to solder. I’ve already managed to solder off two of the leads. One of them is a ground lead, which turns out isn’t a big deal since there’s another ground pin on the other side (I confirmed this wasn’t an issue with Inventek, the chip manufacturer). The other one though, is a RESET pin, which the datasheet says (in capital letters no less) need to be pulled high during operation if it’s not otherwise in use. I guess I need to order another chip :( . I’ll keep trying to get it to work, but I don’t expect to see anything other than -1’s when reading the serial monitor from Arduino.

Pictures after the break

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First Post - From Nov 1

11/13/2010

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The "official" date on the blog may say November 13, but I wrote the following on November 1st. From this you may infer that it took me nearly two weeks to get around to making a website...

So I finally got started on my high altitude balloon launch that I’ve been meaning to get to for months! You can read about it the "About Project HAL" page, but here's another brief synopsis of the project.

I will be using a weather balloon to launch a payload to a very high altitude (around 30km up, which is 18.6 miles for you English unit lovers out there). That payload will contain a camera (maybe 2), GPS receiver chip, microprocessor, and a radio of some sort to transmit the GPS data back to my laptop on the ground. Also, 4 (approximately, that number could go up or down) G-class amateur rocket motors.

More details and progress report after the break

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Updates in every corner - CAD, GPS, Parachutes, and more

GPS frustrations

First Post - From Nov 1

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