Skip to main content

HALE Mission.... T-9 days

By
Well, the HALE mission is entering the final countdown phase. I mailed off my two payloads on Friday so that they would get there in time to be integrated into the "payload stack", and the launch date has been set for 29 July... so it looks like all systems are go. I'll be posting more about my two payloads, Lil' Joe (named after Col. Joseph Kittinger) & Gypsy (named after a robot from MST3K) (pictured above), but I thought I'd give a run-down of the payloads as they now stand in case you haven't read them. It's a... very diverse, class of payloads.
  • Eugene Tsai (Taiwan): payload will use filter papers to capture particles and/or chemicals in the air during the balloon ascent and/or descent periods. The LEGO Mindstorms NXT will used to provide a mechanism to switch filtering papers to capture the materials in the air and then keep the papers in a secured compartment. The filtering papers will be retrieves and analyzed what particles and chemicals exist at different altitudes.
  • Brian Davis (USA): Gypsy (a.k.a. Nadar 2.0) will be a fully automated camera platform that taking both video and still images. The NXT will control all image timing as well as pitch angle of the platform, and datalog more than 11 different parameters at varying intervals during the flight.
  • SpaceMasters Robotics Team (Sweden). Team is lead by Jurgen Leitner and David Leal Martinez. The XGRAVLER (EXperimental GRAVity research with LEgo based Robotics) payload will be measuring the change in g-forces as a function of altitude. The plan is to have the payload repeatedly drop a tethered Wii-mote to measure the acceleration experienced at different altitudes.
  • Brian Davis (USA): Lil' Joe will perform an automated free-fall in an attempt to set the record for the longest NXT free-fall (since there hasn't been one yet, this is a pretty easy record to capture... if the parachute deploys). The payload will be detatched from the main balloon near maximum altitude and will free-fall until the NXT deploys the parachute. It will also be logging 3-axis acceleration data before, during, and after the free-fall, to be retrieved separately from the main payload stack.
  • LUXPAK (Luxembourg): This student team is mentored by Claude Baumann, Francis Massen, Jean Mootz, and Jean-Claude Krack. The payload will measure ozone-concentration, air-pressure, temperature (inside/outside), and reflected light from earth during ascent. In recognition of the 10th anniversary, LUXPAK will be using an RCX for command and control functions. See their very detailed development log for a lot more information.
  • Barbara Bratzel and Chris Rogers are leading a group of 4th grade students (USA): The students want to investigate the impact of the flight conditions on yellow marshmallows (a.k.a. peeps). The NXT will be recording temperature and pressure during the mission. Personally, I can't wait to see pictures of yellow marshmallow "Peeps" being loaded into a mission payload... I'm hoping at least one is wearing a helmet :).
  • FLL Team 90 (USA) is lead by David Levy: the payload will be measuring UV radiation as a function of altitude. The NXT will not only data log the UV sensor readings, but is also be used to manipulate filters and control the payload heater.
  • LEGO Mindstorms Team: top secret classified payload. Yeah, I wish I knew what it was as well, but they're not talking.
I'll try to do a series of posts about my payloads, as well as any of the others I can get additional information on. The programs I drew (in NXT-G) are certainly some of the most complicated yet reliable ones I've created yet... & perhaps surprisingly for all they do, not really huge on-brick (Gypsy's, for instance, is only 22k on-brick... but is generated from a 5.4Mb main file that ends up incorporating more than 8.8Mb of My Blocks). And of course I'll be blogging the mission itself as it draws closer.

--
Brian Davis
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Celebrating 25 Years of MINDSTORMS

By Asha Seshan - ROBOTMAK3R
In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS, we take a trip through history. Please also visit ROBOTMAK3RS Community every week as we highlight different projects all through 2023 in celebration of the anniversary. Some of the early history is based on the content shared by  Coder Shah  in our  MINDSTORMS EV3 Community Group . Some of the text and links may have been edited from his original posts for consistency and clarity.  1984 - Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen watched a TV program called "Talking Turtle," where MIT professor Seymour Papert demonstrated how children could control robot "turtles" using LOGO, a programming language he developed. 1988 - The collaboration between MIT and LEGO resulted in LEGO TC Logo in 1988, which allowed students to control LEGO models using computer commands. The video shows Papert demonstrating TC Logo. 1990 - LEGO TC Logo was hampered since the robots you built had to be tethered to a personal computer. LEGO and MIT...
Read more

ROBOTMAK3RS Review: LEGO River Steamboat

By Asha Seshan - ROBOTMAK3R
I thought the LEGO River Steamboat would be an interesting set for a ROBOTMAK3R review for a few reasons. First, the LEGO designer of the model is Marina Stampoli, a long-time collaborator of the late ROBOTMAK3R Vassilis Chryssanthakopoulo s. From earlier collaborations with Vassilis, I  knew Marina was incredibly talented, with an eye for aesthetics and functionality. Her background in architecture is particularly useful for her relatively new position at LEGO. Her other sets include the Magic of Disney (21352), Message Board (41839), and Red London Telephone Box (21347). Second, watching Marina's reveal video  and reading her designer interview made this set even more tempting to build. The gearing mechanisms running through the model gave way to many opportunities for automation using LEGO robotics elements. Since ROBOTMAK3RS is all about adding interactivity and automation to LEGO brick, I thought it would be fun to see where and how LEGO robotics could be added to this s...
Read more

Ghostbusters R.T.V Remix

By Asha Seshan - ROBOTMAK3R
Nino Guba is from Torrance, California, USA. He played with LEGO as a kid, but growing up in the Philippines, it wasn’t something he had easy access to. He only got reintroduced to LEGO when he moved to the US and had kids of his own. When his sons were younger, they received LEGO sets as gifts, but as they grew older, the sets got put into storage as their interest faded. Fast forward a few years, he started coming up with his own product ideas and thought about how he could quickly prototype them. That’s when he discovered LEGO MINDSTORMS—and was hooked! He raided his kids’ old collection, got everything organized, and now he's designing and building his own creations, blending his coding skills with LEGO robotics to bring ideas to life. Tell us about your Ghostbusters Remote Trap Vehicle (R.T.V) project. This project is a LEGO Technic adaptation of the Ghostbusters R.T.V.—a ghost trap converted into a remote-controlled vehicle. Its companion build is a prop replica of the Futaba...
Read more