Drop Module

thingiverse

When conducting a near space mission in school, I discovered that the project was prohibitively expensive and inaccessible to an entire group of students. To make the project more practical in a classroom setting, I scaled it back and came up with ways to adapt it. To accomplish this, I abandoned the Pi and began experimenting with the BBC Microbit. This device is ideal for the project as it's compact, 3-volt-powered, has inputs and outputs, an accelerometer, magnetometer, thermometer, radio (with a range of up to 230 feet), and more. Many UK schools already have these devices. One major issue we encountered during our HAB experiment was predicting when the balloon would burst. The online software used for forecasting the flight path only estimates when it will pop and land based on the information provided. We wanted to control the release in order to minimize the risk of it traveling too far away and enable us to make more informed estimations of where it would land. The idea behind this project is that students design a drop module prototype, which can be programmed to release after a certain period while transmitting data to another Microbit. The receiving Microbit is connected to a PC that logs acceleration, temperature, direction, and other information via the serial connection. For the release mechanism, I employed a Micro Servo (SG90) that can be directly connected to the MicroBit. The modules could be released from a balloon, drone, zip wire, or any other method you can think of. The project can be adapted to suit different age groups and whether you provide pupils with the release mechanism or have them design their own, there is plenty of scope for fun and challenging learning. In the pictures, I've added a camera module... which is just an added extra. If you want more information, send me a message. I can provide code to get you started. And oh...and you'll probably want to add a parachute : )