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PADL-33: A Low Cost Flight Computer for Stratospheric Ballooning and High-Power Rocketry

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Abstract

The "Phully-Adaptive Data Logger" (PADL-33) flight computer is an educational avionics package for stratospheric ballooning and high-power rocketry, assembled on a custom printed circuit board (PCB) at a cost of about $180. The PCB version of the PADL-33 gives students a 5.8” by 1.525” platform with which to log general flight data, with the possibility of adding additional sensors to aid in specific research projects. Students can gain even more exposure to coding, system architecture, and wiring by assembling the PADL-33 sensor suite on a solderless breadboard. The PADL-33 is built around the Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense Rev2 (BLE-33) microcontroller which has an onboard 9-degree-of-freedom (DOF) inertial measurement unit (IMU), barometric pressure sensor, and humidity sensor. The BLE-33 also comes with a gesture/light/proximity/color sensor and a microphone. This microcontroller has an input voltage range of 5 to 21 volts. The PADL-33 is powered by a 3.7v Lithium-Ion battery using a 3.7 to 5 volt booster breakout, which also can charge a battery via USB-C. The PADL-33 flight computer also includes a micro-SD card breakout, a u-blox NEO-M9N/M8N or ZED-F9P GPS breakout, two temperature sensors, four additional indicator LEDs, 2 switches, terminal block breakouts for most pins on the BLE-33, and a piezo buzzer. The PADL-33 has been flown in student-built payloads on high-power rocket flights and stratospheric balloon flights through classes and by extracurricular groups at the U of MN – Twin Cities. 

Keywords: stratospheric ballooning, high power rocketry, flight computer

How to Cite:

Posey, A. D., (2024) “PADL-33: A Low Cost Flight Computer for Stratospheric Ballooning and High-Power Rocketry”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2024(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ahac.17950