PSAS/ NewUserProjects

New User Projects

Unless otherwise stated, the code for these projects must use C. Talk to us if you really want to use something else.

  1. New User Projects
    1. Simulator projects
    2. GIS projects
    3. Flight computer
    4. Firmware projects
    5. Sensor projects
    6. Avionics projects
    7. Communication projects
    8. What do I need to get these projects done?

Simulator projects

In order to prove out our control algorithm research, we need models of the rocket which are as accurate as possible.

Given x, y, z, roll, pitch, yaw, and the first and second derivatives of those, give us:

All of these should ideally provide a model for introducing noise. Contact Josh Triplett or Jamey Sharp if you want to work on one of these projects, to get a more detailed specification of the interface.

GIS projects

Give us working code to load geographic data (elevation and photography) from geodata.gov, and map it to coordinates in some reasonable coordinate system. Demonstrate that it works with some simple checks, like finding the highest and lowest points in Oregon. You can use an existing library for this; however, it must provide a C-language interface, and use a GPL-compatible license.

Flight computer

Due to a grant from IBM, we are using a PowerPC flight computer, on which we plan to run Linux and the main control software. This software will communicate with various sensor nodes, gather telemetry, transmit it to the ground over a radio link, and integrate the telemetry to determine the current position of the rocket.

Firmware projects

Software for FreeRTOS and the LPC2368 chip's peripherals. There are dozens of little tiny projects, one for each peripheral (such as serial port, ADCs, watchdog timers, etc). Basically, pick an peripheral and write an interface. This includes the the main chip infrastructure, including the vector interrupt controller, memory configuration, etc.

Write software to interface to the smart battery controller, the inertial measurement unit, and the recovery node, etc.

There's also the GPL-GPS project: an open source FPGA GPS receiver. That's a big project, and there aren't a lot of little projects for it, but it's a fun project if you want to jump into something big.

Sensor projects

We're building a billion little sensors in to the rocket: a 3D magnetometer, an inertial measurement unit, pressure sensors, and temperature sensors.

Avionics projects

Communication projects

What do I need to get these projects done?

  1. A computer (laptops are best for this project, so you can bring it to a meeting)
  2. An account on our wiki
  3. Membership to the appropriate email list