Team Hang 7Final Presentation

Lucas Migliorini, Sierra Williams, Chase Goodman, Ethan Hollenbach, Becca Lidvall, Abby Caballero, Paul Smith, Nikhil Desai

12/11/12

Mission Overview

• Objectives• Create a Geiger counter to measure gamma

radiation as altitude increases• Compare our Geiger counter to an 'off the

shelf' Geiger counter• Hypothesis

• We can manufacture a working Geiger counter but not to the accuracy of a 'real' one

• Radiation will increase as altitude increases due to a decrease in atmosphere

Design Overview

• Hexagonal Designo Centripetal Acceleration

• Foam Coreo Thermal Insulation

• Geiger Tubeso One will be a homemade tubeo One will be a kit-tube from Space Grant

• Arduinoo Will control all sensors and Camera, as well as

record data

Design Differences:From Start to Finish

• Geiger Counterso 3 to 2o All homemade to 1 Kit and 1 Homemade

• Breakout Boardo Attached to geiger

External Diagram

Internal Diagram

Functional Block Diagram

Results and Analysis

Predicted:• Steady increase in radiation with altitude• Only looking at "control" due to mission change

Results & Analysis (cont'd)

Results:• Increase with altitude, but levels off, even decreasing slightly• Decrease in power led to less detection of radiation (proven correct

through ground mission simulations)• Loss of power to Geiger counter about 10 minutes after burst

Launch

Burst

LosingPower

Results & Analysis (cont'd)

Homemade Geiger Counters:• Working, but insensitive• Partially inconclusive data due to Arduino failure (7

minutes of data)• Trends show match of data between 40 to 60 minutes:

much more insensitive tubes (8 uS v. 2 uS)

Results & Analysis (cont'd)

External Temperature:

• Correct with predicted data

• Gaps due to Arduino failures

Results & Analysis (cont'd)

BalloonSat Flight Recap:

• Geiger counter Kit show increase, then slight decrease in radiation with altitude

• Failures with Arduino caused lack of data

• Small data recovered showed homemade Geiger counter function, but was more incentive, as expected

Failure Analysis

Failures:• Our Camera failed because of faulty

programing • Our first arduino failed because of a corrupted

SD card

Indicators of Failures:• No pictures on the SD card of camera• Unreadable SD card on the arduino

connected to the required sensors and homemade Geiger counter

Failure Analysis (cont'd)Camera Failure

• Reran with same SD (failed)

• Ran with SD from team 4 (worked)

• Rewrote SD files using working SD as a reference (fixed)

Internal Sensor/ Homemade Geiger Counter Failure

• Ran with new SD (worked)

• No way to fix original SDo Some data recovered, but mainly

inconclusiveo Geiger Counter and sensors not able to run

at the same time (proved after flight)

Conclusions

• Homemade Geiger counters are possible to make

• Radiation increases as you increase in altitude

• Our homemade Geiger counter was less sensitive than the kit Geiger counter

• Our mission "somewhat" succeeded in recording data

BalloonSat Storage• Be fairly gentle• Keep it inside when not in use• Make sure all components are intact

Reactivate BalloonSat for flight• Add new batteries and plug them in • Put in new SD cards • Make sure all systems are functioning• Possibly alter program to make it more

efficient

Ready to fly again

Lessons Learned

• Plan a schedule to better spread out the work this semester

• Team members should be more focused during team meetings

• More testing of sensors, specifically Geiger counters

• More background information of how this technology works, once again specifically on the Geiger counters

Requirements

Level Number Requirements Requirements Met? Derived From

0 1 Payload shall ascend to an altitude of 30 kilometers via balloon

Yes, the balloon reached an altitude of 30.3 km.

Mission Statement

0 2 Payload must store and collect data from our sensors

Partial success, one SD card successfully collected data while the other SD was corrupted.

Mission Statement

0 3 The payload mass must not exceed 1.125kg Yes, we had a final mass of 1.025 kg. Mission Statement

0 4 The payload must be ready for launch by 1 December, 2012

Yes, the payload was ready on time. Mission Statement

0 5 The team and project must obey all safety precautions

Yes, all safety precautions were met. Mission Statement

Requirements (cont'd)

Level Number Requirements Requirements Met? Derived From

1 1 The payload must be able to hold all electronics and sensors

Yes, the payload successfully held all electronics and sensors.

0-R2/0-R3

1 2 The internal temperature of the payload must not drop below -10° celsius

Undetermined, the data was collected on the corrupted SD.

1-R2/1-R3

1 3 The payload must contain a power source

Yes, the payload had a power source of eight 9V batteries.

0-R2/0-R3

1 4 The payload must be constructed solely of foam core

Yes, the payload was created from foam core.

0-R1/0-R3

1 5 The payload must contain two working Geiger counters

Yes, both Geiger counters were on the payload and working properly.

0-R2/0-R3

1 6 Geiger counters will be shielded with different materials

Requirement not met due to change of mission.

0-R2/0-R3

1 7 An American flag will be attached to the BalloonSat

Yes, an American flag was attached to our BalloonSat.

0-R5

Requirements (cont'd)

Level Number Requirements Requirements met? Derived From

2 1 The payload shall contain a heater Yes, the payload did contain a heater. 1-R2/1-R3

2 2 The Geiger counters will be connected to the Arduino microcontroller

Yes, the Geiger counters were connected to the Arduino microcontroller.

1-R5/1-R1

2 3 One Geiger counter will be used as a control for radiation measurement

Yes, a kit Geiger counter was used as a control for radiation measurement.

1-R5/1-R1

2 4 The structure will be sturdy enough to survive the ascent and descent

Yes, the structure survived the flight. 1-R3/1-R4

2 5 The Arduino microcontroller will be programmed to collect information

Yes, the microcontroller was properly programmed.

1-R5/1-R1

2 6 Aluminum and carbon fiber tubes will each be used to shield one Geiger counter from radiation

Requirement not met due to change of mission.

1-R5/1-R1/1-R6

Requirements (cont'd)

Level Number Requirements Requirements Met? Derived From

3 1 The measurements from the Geiger counters will be plotted as to look for trends

Yes, the measurements have been plotted. 2-R5/2-R2/2-R6

3 2 The structure will be a hexagonal shape for strength and the generation of centripetal force

Yes, the structure was a hexagonal shape. 2-R4

3 3 Homemade Geiger counter will be calibrated to an industry standard Geiger counter

Yes, we calibrated as best as possible considering the insensitive tubes.

2-R5/2-R3/2-R6

Mass/Cost Summary

Mass summary • Overall, this project had many successes and

failures. We found out how to work as a team towards a common goal. We also learned that in the real world not everything will succeed. Failure is a part of engineering but what matters is how you respond to that failure.

• Cost Summary• We spent a total of $155.24 of our $250

allowed budget.

Message to next semester

This semester of Gateway to Space may have been overwhelming, frustrating, and time consuming to say the least, but is by far one of the best classes you will ever have. Some advice to help you have an easier semester is to be sure to use your time efficiently and do not rush the testing process. The biggest factor of our failures was not testing over and over to ensure that all our subsystems worked properly. The easiest way to motivate you to work over 25 hours a week on this project is to get to know your teammates and have a good relationship with all of them. This will make it a lot easier and more fun. Make sure to make connections with friends and professors. Over anything be sure to have the best time you can have and never give up even if you do not succeed. Think about all that you will achieve with this project and that not many people have the same opportunities that you have. This is a once in a lifetime project so work harder than you ever have before because in the end it will all pay off.