Weather Balloon Launch, Building process

I want to give you a brief update on the upcoming weather balloon launch in my school. June 4th was the day of the weather balloon launch. I was given the responsibility to build a CubeSat payload for the weather balloon. Over the course of a month, I worked on it and I'm pleased to create a prototype that was launched four days ago. I learned so much during the process such as how to solder, program, use an Arduino, and datalog. I'm using the 3d printed chassis that I showed you during our last meet up which will protect the circuits. 

The CubeSat consists of two sensors which is the BMP180 and the LSM303. Both sensors are going to be used to detect a multitude of data such as: temperature, atmospheric pressure, acceleration, and magnetic field. These two sensors I decided to use because of the simplicity of the circuits. 

Attached below are some pictures of the process: 

 First had to calibrate the sensors and make sure that they are working

 Because I wanted to record the data, I decided to use a SD card shield with the arduino to record the information. The other alternative would be to create a ground station and receive live data from the sensors. I chose datalogging because it's easier to use.

 Had to brainstorm ideas on how to data log and played around with the accelerometer and the magnetometer of the LSM303

 In order to make the sensors compatible with the weather balloon flight, I had to solder some pins to a perf board and solder the sensors on the board itself. 

 Attached below the arduino is a battery pack. As you can see, the perf board fit pretty well with the arduino. 

Weighing the CubeSat for the weather balloon payload

This is where I soldered the circuit board. 

Here is a pic of the CubeSat prototype. As you can see, the sensor sticking out is the BMP180. It is sticking out because the CubeSat will be placed within an insulated foam box. In order to get accurate readings, the BMP180 has to be exposed to air. As a result, I will have to drill a hole in the foam box and expose the sensor in the open.