Current News

The new order is in! The SAM Adapter Board lets me connect my SAM GPS to a flat flex cable (FFC) and then to a breakout board. I still can't actually touch the GPS receiver without a static mat, but at least I can now connect wires to it... a picture follows (incomplete curcuit, so don't ask)

SAB is the quarter-sized green board. Still small :-)

4-08-05: Since I am finally starting a weblog of my progress, I should really start by sharing my goals, then disucssing minor goals for the spring/summer 2005, then show pictures of my hardware.

The end goal is to have a fully autonomous cross country (XC Soaring) flight from shortly after launch to orbiting over the destination. En-route, the glider will be guided by GPS and will send back telemetry data so the operator can monitor the glider from the computer screen rather than watching the glider. While flying, there are two needed modes: thermalling and traversing. I hope to blend Reichmann's thermalling method and Dolphin soaring method to create a computer that knows when to circle and when to cruise. I also hope to use McCready's "Speed-to-Fly" theory to manage the Dolphin soaring.

But first, before I ever get a plane in the sky to begin testing, I must tackle some more immediate goals. Since I am an aerospace engineering major, and not an electrical and computer engineering major, the learning curve for me is bringing together all the hardware to work collectively. A few must-have items are a GPS receiver, a variometer, and a tilt indicator.

Since I am on a coop from January through early August 2005, I have decided to learn how electronics are integrated together. I purchased a BX-24 to be my initial autopilot and data logger. I purchased a SAM-LS Smart Antenna for GPS reception. I am modelling a variometer circuit from Dietrich's Logger. My goal is to datalog all the needed data to fly an airplane by the end of summer 2005.

Without further ado, let's see some pictures:

This is the Sam-LS GPS receiver/antenna from u-blox. It boasts a VERY small size and 4Hz update rate. It also is WAAS enabled, among other higher-precision modes. Best yet, it spews NMEA GGA format that the BX-24 can read.

You can just see the Sam-LS balsa volume simulator behind the servos. The Bubble Dancer that will have the honor of testing it out pretty much dwarfs the small hardware. Eventually the BX-24 and other equipment will also be mounted inside. And I still have to actually finish the Bubble Dancer (oops!).