CRICKETSAT and Beyond

                                           



         

UVM and Milton High School students performed the design and build work during this past year. 
 In July, the CricketSat system was flown on a BalloonSat flight provided by the Medgar Evers College of New York.  The system worked well with a few minor flaws. 
 The design process and flight results are available here:  

Profile of the Atmosphere


 

                                                        Commercial Airliners
                                                               Fly Here

Flight Objectives: MHS-1
             ●   Fly three daytime flights
                    -  Temperature
                         -   Pressure (altitude)
                         -   Humidity
             ●   Fly two nighttime flights
                         -  Temperature
                         -   Pressure (altitude)
             ●   Improve upon previous best results
                         -   Reception range of 15 miles
                         -   Lowest temperature of +45 F
                         -   Altitude of ~11,000 feet		  

MHS_1: Flight Results

  

 
 

First BalloonSat Flight MHS-2

  
  ● Teamwork:
          - Collaborative effort with Medgar Evers
            College (CUNY)
            Their CONDOR-2 BallonSat flight
  ● Objectives:
          - Collect real-time temperature
            measurements inside the CUNY flight
            bag containing the radio/GPS payload
          - Determine if temperature may be a
            factor with the loss of GPS tracking data
          - Determine if CricketSat system can
            coexist with a BalloonSat payload
            without causing radio interference
 

 

MHS-2: Flight Results

  

 

 
 

Second Balloon Flight: MHS-3

  

  ● Objectives:
               ● Fly multiple CricketSat sensors
               ● Design work required since all CricketSats use same radio frequency
               ● Altimeter
               ● Find maximum altimeter range
               ● Flight expected 80,000 to 120,000 feet
               ● Altimeter redesigned for theoretical 45,000 feet
               ● Calibrated to 30,000 feet; beyond will be extrapolated data
               ● Temperature
               ● MHS flight bag - two hand warmers added
               ● External temperature - sensor modified to extend temperature range
               ● Accelerometer added for fun

  

Milton High School Design Task

  

Problem
CricketSat sensors share the same radio frequency
Only one sensor can be on at a time
Solution
Design and build a circuit that provides power to one sensor at a time, in a sequential fashion

  
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This circuit uses a common BASIC Stamp II microcontroller
However, it needs a program to run it...

  

Software Development: Pseudo Code

  
          ●   Define and initialize variables
          ●   LOOP :
                            -   For Sensor = 1 to 5
                                            ●   Turn CricketSat sensor on for 11 seconds, then off
                                            ●   Flash the strobe light
                                            ●   Wait 1/2 second
                            -   Next Sensor
                            -   If five minutes have elapsed
                                            ●   Take a picture
                            -   Wait three seconds
          ●   GOTO LOOP
 		  
 

Power Sequencing Controller

 

MHS-3 Flight Results: Temperatures During Flight

  

 

MHS-3 Flight Results:  Temperature vs. Altitude

  

 

MHS-3 Flight Results: Altimeter Correlation

  

MHS-3 Flight Results

CricketSat / BalloonSat Compatibility Results

             ●  Validated methodology and effectiveness of time-based sequencing
             ●  Temperature and altitude results correlated to known NOAA and GPS for most values
                              ●     Redesign work needed for both devices to meet full requirements
             ●  Data reception range works well for 51 miles
             ●  System does not appear to have any RF interference issues with the BalloonSat VHF
                      transmitter

Future Work
             ●  Improvements to CricketSat temperature and pressure sensors
             ●  Fly the CricketSat Array System solo
                          ●  Low cost, expendable
                          ●  Alternative to BalloonSat
             ●  Develop future system with Dr. Neal Brown
                          ●  BASIC Stamp based design
                          ●  Recoverable system with GPS onboard
                          ●  Multiple sensors / single transmitter
                          ●  Convert data to proper units onboard
                          ●  Transmit results in Morse Code

                 Thanks!         

Mapping (Click to enlarge)

                       

 

05 BaloonSAT Launch      CricketSAT 04      CricketSAT Data       CricketSAT History