Supercluster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee1xsUViZ8U

https://supercluster-rzeszow.github.io/

We decided to implement the project in the form of a website that allows for the integration of multiple environments (e.g. Python) to provide the broadest possible set of tools for planning a stratospheric balloon mission.

The website guides the user through the stages of the mission, allowing them to delve into the details of each issue.

The first section is a collection of theoretical issues related to balloon flight and atmospheric phenomena that can be investigated as part of a balloon flight. The main effort in completing this section was focused on analyzing the scientific and educational materials available on NASA and other online sources.

We then prepared a complete guide for flight preparation. We used the experience of our team members who have participated in balloon missions. We prepared a complete inventory of the parts needed for the mission, including less obvious items such as gloves or tools to prepare the payload capsule. In addition to the descriptive guides, we used a tool that helps inexperienced balloon mission participants in an innovative way - checklists. Using our knowledge of aviation - our field of study - we have prepared step-by-step checklists that make it easy to carry out a mission. Properly applied, they almost eliminate the risk of mission failure or dangerous situations.

One of the biggest challenges in mission accomplishment is the IT part. Programming is often perceived as very difficult and can discourage involvement in the project. We tried to make this part as easy as possible by preparing ready hardware and providing dedicated software. For more advanced users we have prepared links to libraries that allow them to modify the software according to their needs. The main electronics board is designed to allow open-source sensors (Grove, Qwiiic standards) to be connected on a plug-and-play basis.

Further work on this part should focus, among other things, on developing possible lesson topics, along with indicating specific sensors. Furthermore, we would like to expand the possibility of automatic code generation after the user selects the desired modules. 

The mathematical model of the stratospheric balloon prepared by us allowed us to obtain simulation data and place them on the website. The user going through the successive stages of preparation of stratospheric balloon flight mission in this way comes across sample data, which he has the opportunity to interpret thanks to the placed graphs. Noteworthy is the implemented model of the standard atmosphere, thanks to which it is clear how the balloon flight is affected by changing pressure and air density. This allows for a full understanding of the physical phenomena that cause the created stratospheric balloon to rise.

The concept was to realize a calculator through which the user could simulate the conditions that he defined himself. Thus, in an approximate way, he can test the mission he has prepared and analyze the simulation data obtained. Also included in this concept is the ability to predict the flight path of a balloon based on available wind forecast data for a location selected by the user, using available wind forecast data for the selected location.

In this way, the user would have access to many important aspects to consider when preparing a stratospheric balloon flight mission. Performing a simulation before launching the actual balloon could potentially prevent a failed mission.

To check out full code, visit our Github Repository:

https://github.com/Supercluster-Rzeszow

We used data from space agencies for two main purposes. 

The first was to plan for possible in-flight experiments. In order to present the theory of balloon flight we used NASA educational pages describing physical phenomena such as buoyancy force or pressure changes in the Earth's atmosphere. Then we used the pages about atmospheric phenomenas to suggest to the students what kind of data could be measured during the mission - we considered measurements of magnetic field, cosmic radiation, pollution levels, ozone concentration and other phenomenas that NASA explains in an accessible way in their materials.

Another type of data was used by our team designing a mathematical model of the balloon and a way to predict the route and altitude of the flight and where the payload would land after the balloon burst. They used scientific papers on the standard atmosphere, how to build mathematical models, and methods for flight path prediction, among other topics.

To plan our site and next steps for building the balloon, we used suggestions from the challenge page and the video attached there.

Links to the materials used are posted in the "references" section.

We were encouraged to choose this particular challenge by the opportunity to allow a large number of people, especially students, to directly explore space. In our region - subcarpathia - we have seen a dynamic development of companies in the space industry without simultaneous preparation of students for work in such companies. High altitude balloons are the cheapest and easiest way to start a space journey. 

We began the project by reviewing the formal requirements and suggested issues. We mapped out the high-level requirements, which we then broke down into low-level tasks. Our team was divided into three groups - the first one dealing with the website, the educational part and the balloon's construction, the second one designing hardware and software and the last one preparing the interactive panel that allows to prepare the flight.

It was a very valuable experience to have some of the team members participate in the balloon mission. This allowed us to prepare detailed guidance that comes from pure experience and is invaluable for new space enthusiasts.

We are very grateful to the PCI crew, especially Marcin - they are pioneers in promoting space initiatives in our region. Their actions influenced our choice and approach to the challenge. We would like to thank professors from Rzeszow University of Technology - the knowledge they gave us allowed us to implement the challenge in a way that is both easy to understand and at the same time presents a high scientific level.

WEBPAGE DEVELOPMENT AND REPOSITORY

• GitHub
• BootstrapMade
• Heroku
• MapBox

WEBPAGE VISUALIZATIONS

• DashPlotly

GRAPHICS:

• https://www.freepik.com/?fbclid=IwAR2pdVi3Hrs6a1dt93QrpiIr44WEx76d8oedf4v8J3h7m7V-zxQRagc1xxI
• https://unsplash.com/?fbclid=IwAR3CwRpBSPWP2Ozihk9GINbAMi3oguPQd1SGUylPObHJagPoRjMNwJGFPkY

SOFTWARE:

• EAGLE (PCB Design)
• IntelliJ IDEA (Python IDE)
• GitHub
• Fusion 360 (PCB Design)
• PyCharm (Python IDE)
• VS Code

PYTHON LIBRARIES:

• Numpy
• Math
• Random
• Matplotlib
• Plotly

WIND FORECAST DATA:

• Air Resources Laboratory: https://www.ready.noaa.gov/READYcmet.php

FUNDAMENTALS OF BALLOON FLIGHTS

• https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/WindTunnel/Activities/buoy_Archimedes.html
• https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/atmosmet.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_limit
• https://www.nasa.gov/scientific-balloons/types-of-balloons
• https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/88377main_H-2044.pdf
• https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/communications/policy/what_is_gps

MATH MODEL, BALLOON BURST CALCULATOR, FLIGHT PATH PREDICTION

• https://www.iastatedigitalpress.com/ahac/article/5581/galley/5447/view/
• https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/Numbers/Math/Mathematical_Thinking/designing_a_high_altitude.htm
• https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/sciences/balloons/about-stratospheric-balloons.asp
• https://biotsavart.tripod.com/balloon.htm
• https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/hot-air-balloon-lifting-force-d_562.html
• https://launchwithus.com/lwu-blog/2016/6/26/near-space-balloon-burst-altitude-calculator-sceience
• https://www.highaltitudescience.com/
• https://www.iastatedigitalpress.com/ahac/article/8327/galley/7923/view/

#balloons, #hardware, #software, #lessons

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.