Forward Progress in Pictures

  

 

   

Programming

Today I wrote the PBASIC program to remotely operate my satellite.  It was my first coding project from scratch.  It took me about a hour to get the basic shell running.  Then later on we polished and commented the code.  We ran into a problem.  The code is too big because our stamp's memory is only two kilobytes.  We got rid some of the unnecessary parts and shoehorned it into the EEPROM.  

Four Day Weekend

Today I replaced the diode that my dad burned out.  It was pretty easy all I had to do was desolder the old one, find a new one from my parts drawer and put it in with the right polarity.

We also got a relay circuit to work.  We powered the APRS on and off using a simple relay circuit.

The combined voltage of all the solar panels if 3 were facing the sun was 1.5 volts, but 4 amps.  The battery needs 12 volts to charge.  If I used a transformer I can basically convert those amps into volts.  We used a formula to calculate how many wind on each side of the transformer we need.  It turns out I need 12 winds on one side and one on the other.  If I do this it will charge completely but will take about 12 hours to charge.

Because of hurricane like conditions tomorrow and a holiday on Monday I have a four-day weekend to work on the project.  Tomorrow I am going to be working on the program to turn all the systems on and off by command. 

Ooops...

We had a little scare tonight.  Bryan was busy all night memorizing the Gettysburgh Address for a history test tomorrow, so I was fiddling with the power bus board trying to get it in my head how the STAMP microcontroller was going to control relays to power the different components.  

Well, in the process of prototyping the connection, I got two wires crossed and when I powered up the APRS board, instead of activity lights I got tiny "Psspt" and an ever so faint wisp if smoke!  That's not good.  As my engineer friend always says about electronics, "The trick is always keeping the magic smoke inside!"

I de-powered immediately and saw my mistake.  After correcting it, I checked the operation of the APRS board and it failed.  It would no longer power up.  Uh oh.

I went and fessed up to Bryan and wrote the owner of Byonics for advice.  Fortunately I got an encouraging response:

"There is a small glass diode mounted near the tab where the RF metal can sits. Just use a pair of nippers and cut it off. This is the reverse polarity protection diode. "

Basically the circuit has a small diode to protect the more expensive parts in the event of a backwards connection.  It dutifully sacrificed itself to save our board!  We will replace that diode before applying power again, and it will give Bryan and I a chance to discuss how the protection circuit worked.

Whew, that was close.  I think everything gets a diode now!

Latest BrySAT Project Photos

     

 

 

 

 

APRS Board

Today I finally managed to unsolder the antenna connector on the APRS board and turn it then re-solder it.  Now the board fits in the frame and the antenna conveniently fits through a small hole in the top of the frame.

I also sawed off two of the tabs on the cover for the frame.  Now the cover fits onto the rest of the frame.  I am probably going to add hinges on one of the sides to I can open and close it and be able to display it.

Tomorrow I am going to try and work on the program for the basic stamp.  Now I completely understand how they work and am also going to put together the relay circuit to turn on and off the different parts.

Not Much Progress

Today I did not do much. I did try to de-solder the antenna connection for the APRS.  It is challenging because there are five pins that somehow need to be simultaneously de-soldered and then I can remove the part.  I managed to get all of the visible solder off but the part still seems to be connected.  My dad and I are going to try tomorrow.  Without doing this procedure the chip will not fit into the frame.  I am assuming all I need is an extra pair of hands to get it out.

It's Starting to Look Like A Satellite!

Bryan did a lot of work today on the physical structure of the Cubesat.  He mounted the camera, battery, power-bus board, card mounts and 4 card modules.  He also mounted the solar panels to the outside.  We had to drill a few holes in our precious frame but all went well.  We also had to make a trip to City Mill and Radioshack for some parts and mounting hardware.  We are over budget and are not allowed to spend anymore of the project this week.

It is exciting to see an actual device sitting on the table, instead just a collection of parts.

Next we have to modify the APRS board's antenna connection so that it will fit and also modify the STAMP micro-controller board so it will fit as well.  The ATV payload also needs new connectors for video and we need to figure out its antenna placement.

Looking ahead, we still have a lot of connections to make in the Cubesat, especially in regards to power.  Also the programming side of the micro-controller needs more attention.  We have lots of parts, but need to bring it all together in a unified whole program.  This is tough stuff!

Deadline Extension!

Proof that prayer works!  The deadline for the Science Fair has been pushed back 1 week!  One additional week to work on the project.  Hurray!  They said it was due to a scheduling conflict, but I know why it really changed!  Now time to give thanks.

Cubesat Building Chaos

Bryan's Cubesat workbench.

Making Progress

Today I started to visualize how everything is going to go together in the frame.  My dad, on his way home from work, picked up some relays that i can use to switch on and off the ATV and APRS.  I will use my basic stamp and a very simple program to control the relays.

Tomorrow I will start connecting the parts to power and my basics stamp, and will be putting it all in the frame.

I've Been Framed!

Today my Dad and I went to the Rapid Technology company to get my Cubesat frame. They take digital CAD models and use 3D printing to make actual physical models.  They even reinforced my model Cubesat frame with epoxy and cyanoacrylate, something similar to super glue, to give it strength.  They were so very helpful and showed us tons of examples of what this technology can do.  I learned a lot!

Now that I have the frame, I can start putting all of the electronics into it. I have most of the parts. It will just be a matter of connecting them all and making them work together.  It is going to be a tight fit, but I have confidence that it will all fit.

Ahhh The Sweet Smell of Science Fair

Well its that time of year again and this year I am going to make a cubesat. A cubesat is a 10x10 cube-shaped satellite. I am going to attempt to figure out how to make a fully functional version of one. The only downside is that I will not be able to actually launch it into orbit because I do not have the funds for it.

Bryan Displays his project at EARC

Bryan attended the last Emergency Amateur Radio Club meeting and brought his board to share with the club. He received many encouraging comments and even renewed his membership with the EARC.