During week 9 I calculated the battery capacity needed to power everything in the plane and did field of view testing. After being disappointed in the range of the original XBeee Pro-900’s I ordered more powerful XBee Pro XSC (50mW vs. 250 mW). I also ordered a pair of 5.8GHz cloverleaf antennas and a pair of 900MHz BlueBeam antennas. After talking to members of a local RC club I decided to drop the care package with a second 2.4GHz radio controller and use an IR sensor to detect when the package is dropped. This is the fastest and more reliable way to drop and detect the drop. The SAE Aero Competition rules require an external reset switch to be on the plane so I wired a momentary push button to the arduino which can be mounted on the outside of the plane. Lastly I measured the size of enclosure I needed to protect the data acquisition system and outlined the specifications and materials needed.
Week 9 Progress Update PowerPoint Below: