CUBEX

Hey folks, several people have been asking for code and board/schematics, so I've now linked the Github where it all lives!

https://github.com/arkorobotics/CUBEX_V1

Huge thanks to Phil Heron, Anthony Stirk, and the many folks credited in the code for all their contributions!

Hey folks! Finally launched CUBEX-1 on May 24th, 2014 at the Layerone Convention. The payload consisted of CUBEX-1 and a Leo Bodnar B tracker. CUBEX-1 transmitted SSDV images (JPEG) at 320x240 as well as tracking telemetry on 434.460Mhz 300baud 8n2. The B tracker was an APRS beacon. The payloads reached a maximum altitude of 33698m (110,560ft) and transmitted down 50 images during flight. After burst, the aprs tracker stopped and CUBEX-1 lost GPS, however, it continued to transmit SSDV images. As predicted, the estimated landing zone is the pacific ocean. 

There is more info on the flight available here: http://habexproject.org/cubex/

Images from flight:

More Images: http://ssdv.habhub.org/CUBEX1/2014-05-24

Flight Path:

Screenshot of capturing data:

With testing complete it's time for CUBEX to enjoy some beer.

Ran a full flight test on batteries and added a quarter wave antenna. This was the first time the entire system ran on its own (no power supply, debugger, etc). Image transmission ran flawlessly for 4 hours, far more than what is required for flight.

Yes indeed! With great help from fsphil, CUBEX now transmits jpeg pictures (SSDV) as well as GPS data!! Here's a quick demo of it working! http://ssdv.habhub.org/

This video is for: TheHackadayPrize

CUBEX now has a working brain! It's currently sending out its name, packet number, time, lat, long, altitude, satellite count, error codes, and a checksum (RTTY 50baud 7n2 on 434.480Mhz). The next step will be to grab the jpeg off the camera and send it out at 600baud (ssdv). Special thanks to Upuaut and Fsphil for their awesome code and help!

Attached solar panels which will now charge the LiPo battery! Connected are two 0.5V cells feeding to an LTC3105 energy harvester. Demo and info to come!

Finally got around to populating all the parts for CUBEX today. Found a few issues, which I'll explain in detail in the next log. Nothing major, but I guess that's why we have prototypes :) In the coming days I will be doing software testing to assure all parts are functional.

It's been a while since I updated, mostly due to finals. Now that I'm on spring break I've had some time to order the correct parts and begin assembly! Parts all arrived today! Should have most of it assembled and ready by the weekend.

Since a lot of my project time has been working on the Layerone 2014 Conference badge with charliex, I haven't had a whole lot of time to work on CUBEX. 

Thankfully, I was able to ship a few boards to my friend Anthony Stirk from HAB Supplies in the UK who bought the parts and is now assembling and testing the board! He reported back today saying that the board was able to charge the battery using a power supply (since the UK doesn't really have a sun to test solar charging). He then placed a resistor load on the VCC and discharged the battery to the programmed 2.7v cutoff (done to protect the battery). So the power board is doing exactly what it was designed to do, charging the battery and cutoff the battery if the HAB draws too much energy preventing it from damaging the battery. As a side note, the battery will be reconnected automatically as soon as it has been filled up to a safe voltage. It's always a good feeling when a design works as intended! Huge thanks to Anthony! 

My parts from digikey/newark should arrive sometime early next week, so I can finally get this project going on my end.. launch is 3 months away!