Electronics box
To securely contain the electronics we used a styrofoam box. The plan for the test flight was to make it as simple as possible, so we thought of fastening the phone down with wire or plastic cable ties. This was tried out with small experiment by hitting the box with the phone inside to the floor, over and over again. The Styrofoam in these boxes is not very solid and when the test was executed the fasteners tore the box open. It became clear that this solution was not an option for us. We had to come up with a better solution, and it would be best to find a solution that would work for all of the flights. After rethinking the best way to do this, we decided to mill out foam plates that fits inside the box and have seats for the the equipment that we were going to use e.g. phone, SPOT, Trackuino. We decided to have few layers of plates, and put one device in each layer.
The plates were milled out in CNC miller placed in the RU machine shop.
To cut our milled inserts to the correct thickness we made a small foam cutter that is made from two wire holders that has special resistance wire stringed between, and the wire holders are held down with two clamps. To adjust the cutter thickness, simply slide the wire up or down the wire holders. For heating the wire we used a power supply that was connected on the two different sides of the cutter.
The use of styrofoam for the equipment container is an easy, cheap and effective solution in high altitude ballooning. The cointainer, once full with milled inserts is mechanically very strong and thermally stable. Glove warmers can be put in the blank, weight reduction, spaces in the inserts.
Boom
To get the images we were aiming for we needed specific mounting points for the cameras. These mount point needed to be at a specific distance from the model. Because of this we built a boom which we attached to the underside of the equipment box.
Top things we needed to have in mind when boom was designed:
The boom has the cameras mounted on each end. One camera on the upper end and two on the lower end. The camera on the upper end recordes top view on the model, one camera on the lower end records the side view on the pod and the other records view upward to the balloon.
The boom weighs 236 grams with aluminium pipes at each end.
Top things we needed to have in mind when boom was designed:
- Strong
- Light
- Long enough
- Attachable
- Rigid
The boom has the cameras mounted on each end. One camera on the upper end and two on the lower end. The camera on the upper end recordes top view on the model, one camera on the lower end records the side view on the pod and the other records view upward to the balloon.
The boom weighs 236 grams with aluminium pipes at each end.
Spaceship Model
CCP contracted an experienced prop maker to make a model of a spaceship from their Eve online computer game. The prop maker Þorfinnur Karl Karlsson (Tobbi) made the spaceship from plastic. It was made from two shells which where fixed together. He painted the model and installed LED lights for a more realistic look. To make the spaceship as light as possible it was made from thin layer of plastic and there for it was very delicate. The total weight of the finished model was 2367 g.