[Space] Meeting notes from 03.30

[Christopher Lincoln]

Meeting notes from 03.30

Suggestions for improving launch quality and efficiency
 - Need a standard process for setting up and testing electronics.  This
process must be well documented
 - Preflight check list.
 - Battery check
 - Have “Yay or Nay” call of the Tuesday meeting before the launch.
   For a “Yay” call to be made, every critical component must be completed
and tested.
 - A full check list of what is going up with this launch and their
dependencies
 - Mark the tank as we open it, to alleviate confusion as to which one was
used.
 - Always take a second (back up) tank to each launch
 - create wiki pages of each payload item, including set up instructions.
(list of needed pages are on the bottom of this page.)
 - Provide better communication for the drive out of the launch site
 - locate stores in the area that can provide forgotten items like batteries
and helium


List of tasks that we should do before the next launch
 - Test different types of batteries in the freezer (both types of batteries
and competing brands)
 - acquire a bathroom scale to weigh the helium tanks with.
 - Purchase condoms, extra large
 - the cannon IS1100 stopped taking pictures shortly after being turned on,
probably battery related, but we should test to make sure.


Ideas for next launch
 - One battery grid to rule them all!  This would consist of 2 battery
systems that connected just prior to the component giving a back up system
should one fail.
 - add solar cells to the outside to the payload to test energy received as
we go up.   We can use the datalogger to store the information.
 - Use a droid with debian installed (Chris has one) to feed data from a USB
hub that had has several web cameras hooked up and save the data out to a
USB harddrive.   Alternatively we could also use a beagle board (Nils has
one).
 - Attach LED blinkies or stroke lights (from disposable cameras) to the end
of the antenna support arms.
 - Add a high pitch buzzer to the payload bus to help locate it
 - add brightly colored inflated condoms (balloons will work also) to the
payload so that they will float above the final resting place, assisting in
locating it.
 - Add a video camera, and stream it's feed over a ham radio to a base
station.  This would use a NTSC broadcast.  This has the potential to be
expensive, so Chris will gather  - a cost estimate for this (both dollar and
if possible weight)
 - make the video camera steerable.  Even outside of the flight this would
be usable as we could then be able to see the area where the payload landed
before having to walk  - there.


Ideas talked about, but decided to be considered independent of the core
Spacebridge concept
 - Generating Hydrogen quickly and cheaply.  While awesome, it's to
dangerous and inconvenient for us to focus on at the moment.
 - UAV.  Again awesome, but is a large enough project to be considered
independent but closely related and potentially intersecting Spacebridge.


Wiki pages that need to be created and maintained.
 - Radio, with set up instructions
 - Radio Antena (dipole)
 - GPS
 - Packet Tracker
 - Open Tracker
 - G1, including applications used and set up intructions
 - Canon A700 Camera, including CHDK, script, battery limitations, SD card
limitations and set up instructions
 - Canon IS1100 SD Camera, including CHDK, script, SDHC card limitations,
instructions
 - Payload Bus
 - Icrais program
 - Android APRS
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