TEAM INFINITY AND BEYOND FINAL PRESENTATION Fall 2011 Rev D Adam Archuleta Katie Cartee Logan Farley Patrick Klein Kamron Medina Catherine Villa

MISSION OVERVIEW Primary Objective: Prove that a glider-like vehicle is a practical way to return a payload to Earth Secondary Objective: Use a micro video camera to create a video of the high altitude environment around the BalloonSat from the point of view of the glider before, during, and after detachment

DESIGN: Glider Satellite Separation Mechanism Burn wire

Functional Block Diagram

HARDWARE

RESULTS & ANALYSIS

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS Prediction: The glider will remain attached for exactly 70 minutes, release, and free fall towards the earth. At roughly 9 km. air resistance will begin to slow the fall of the craft, eventually creating enough lift to stabilize the vehicle Our BalloonSat will continue to 30 km where the balloon will burst before it too free falls toward the earth. The parachute will slow the descent of the satellite after this Actual: Satellite ascended to approximately 24 km, 6 shy of the prediction The glider remained attached for the duration of the flight, and failed to release at the designated height The glider survived burst and descent, but detached following a rough landing

HOBO GRAPHS- RH Launch & Max humidity Relative humidity decreases as temperature inside increased Box opened

HOBO GRAPHS- INTERNAL Launch and minimal temperature Burst Box opened and Heater turned off

HOBO GRAPHS- EXTERNAL Credit: Team 7 Burst Launch Landing

RECAP Launch was beautiful; glider remained attached Ascended steadily (pictures of the wing) GPS failed 10 minutes into flight; last transmission: Greeley Burst occurred at 68 minutes At burst, struts had a structural failure (planned failure) At 70 minutes, release mechanism failed (not planned for) Fishing wire relentlessly held glider to the satellite Glider tumbled with the satellite, pictures show 180 degree flips in 10 second windows Last shot of glider taken one minute before landing Satellite lands in Nebraska approximately 105 minutes after launch

FAILURE ANALYSIS Release Mechanism Launch shook wire loose Burst shook wire loose GPS 1) Fell off of plane or 2) Stopped transmitting- Last transmission hit nearest tower: located in Greeley Satellite Atmospheric conditions disrupted flight Testing Most testing involved the burn wire mechanism Managed to repeat failure by simulating burst Thicker wire yields positive results, does not break as easily

CONCLUSIONS Fishing wire is a very strong, lightweight material. Copper wire breaks easily. Pictures from the flight are more reliable than the GPS. We discovered: The GPS failed approximately 10 minutes into flight. Cube’s internal temperature and relative humidity were optimal. Pictures reveal glider still attached just moments before landing Our data shows: Our glider is still out there. Failures have been addressed and fixed accordingly We still hope to test the new plane out of a hot air balloon for data. We are ready to re-fly

If we had the chance to try again: Better time management Test earlier Simplify project How we would have gotten better results: Use stronger copper wire or other kind of heating element Replace GPS recovery system with more capable technology Appendix

RE-FLIGHT REQUIREMENTS The rebuilt glider is ready to fly New GPS New camera Stronger copper wire To fly again: 1.Tie on glider using fishing wire, looped around copper wire. 2.Ensure batteries are charged. 3.Enable HOBO for planned flight time. At launch 4.Manually activate camera. 5.Flip all switches. 6.Fly away.

Compliance Matrix RequirementProcess Transport glider equipped with GPS technology to near-space conditions at approximately 26kmBuilt each component, tested extensively, Got approval from the FAA Incorporate a burn wire release mechanism into our satelliteDesigned mechanism, installed and tested Keep total weight under 850 gramsSlightly overweight, acquired the needed difference from another team Keep total cost under $250Stuck to our pre-determined budget, and contributed personal funds as needed Recover GPS enabled GliderUsed a team car to follow the path of the glider Design and construct BalloonSat that will reach 26-30kmStructure testing Design and construct glider that will survive the ascent of the satellite through the atmosphereStructure and release mechanism tests Ensure the glider will support the weight of a cell phone and cameraMultiple test flights and design changes Set up a connection between the glider and groundUsed Sprint's Family Locater plan Construction and testing completed and turned in by Friday, November 4thCompleted and turned in Install burn wire and electrical required for the release in our BalloonSat Tested in place of the magnet and found that it was more reliable; used the same system as we had set up for the magnet Install fishing line onto gliderUsed a thin piece of copper wire and wrapped the fishiing line around it. Install and test a timer to release the glider from the Satellite at a specific altitude Calculated velocity of ascent based on previous BalloonSat experiments; programmed arduino accordingly Test integrated system before launch Programmed arduino to release at 20 seconds; test results indicate the system is working as designed. Research weights of all materialsUsed the ITLL scale Check the accuracy of the aforementioned researchMeasured individual parts when they arrived Measure final design to ensure weight is under 850 grams Following our final weigh-in, we were overbudget by a small amount. We negotiated for weight with another team Research costs of all materialsGoogle Caculate total costCreated and used a detailed budget Locate the glider on Google MapsUse Sprint Family Locator program

MASS AND COST SUMMARY

MESSAGE TO NEXT SEMESTER Time Manage it well. Deadlines creep up. You’ll be spending countless hours on this class. Test early so you have more time to fix any problems you occur. Prepare for late nights and all-nighters GOOD LUCK Simplicity Pick a simple project. Problems occur: the simpler the system, the less time the fix takes.