Oral Presentation Only

Payload To Enable Recording Of Data And Communication Telemetry Y(While) Lofted (PTERODACTYL), with Stratospheric Ballooning Applications

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Abstract

We have developed a modular, low-cost (~$200) package for data logging and telemetry in stratospheric ballooning. The device, which goes by the acronym PTERODACTYL (spelled out in the title), is built around a Teensy 3.5 microcontroller (a 3.3V device which has a built-in microSD card slot) and a custom printed circuit board. It has a ?blox M8N stratospheric-capable gps, a 9 degree-of-freedom IMU, an altimeter (pressure sensor and temperature sensor), two thermistors (temperature sensors), two servo control outputs, four indicator LEDs, an OLED screen (for on-ground monitoring), multiple switches (for user input), an XBee radio module (for short-range, intra-stack communication), and terminal blocks to access the microcontroller’s other I/O pins for adding additional sensors to the I^2C bus, multiple serial ports, and 3.3V analog inputs. One can also use a PTERODACTYL to send sensor data and XBee messages through a more-powerful radio, such as an RFD900, capable of relaying sensor data and XBee messages (down-link) and commands (up-link) between the payload (at stratospheric altitudes) and a ground station.

Keywords: telemetry, data logger, stratospheric ballooning

How to Cite:

Van Gerpen, A. & Flaten, J., (2022) “Payload To Enable Recording Of Data And Communication Telemetry Y(While) Lofted (PTERODACTYL), with Stratospheric Ballooning Applications”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2020(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ahac.11646