• About PSAS
• Get Involved!
• Schedule
• Projects
• Presentations
• Mailing lists
• Contact us

• Teams
  • Airframe
  • Avionics
  • Communications
  • Ground
  • Payload
  • Propulsion
  • Rocket Science
  • Safety
  • Software
  • Uncertainty
  • Regulation
  • PSU Student Club

• Patch antennas
  • Run test patches? Or just run the whole damn thing?
  • Make PCBs: 5.8 GHz 802.11a patch, 2.4 GHz ATV patch, 1.5 GHz GPS patch
  • Purchase more UHMW PE material, enough to make many, many patches so that we get one manufacturing test patch.
  • Make 'em: construct, solder on pigtails
  • Test 'em! (just the BW, we think, probably don't need a propagation test at NW EMC).
• RF
  • Power and mounting of 5.8 GHz 802.11a PAs
  • Power and mounting of 2.4 GHz ATV PAs
  • Mounting of 1.5 GHz GPS pre-amp
  • Make sure RF section is really RF locked
• Umbilical cord
  • New umbilical cord and connector (ODU)
  • New airframe plug (ODU)
  • Re-test new umbilical cord mechanicals
  • LTC to APS UART link
• Battery
  • Battery stress relief boards
  • Battery sensor board: design, layout, build, test
  • Battery to umbilical cord connection
  • LTC battery charger infrastructure
• FC
  • Build, test, and possibly rev new FC carrier
  • Mount and test FC carrier
• Rocketbus connectors
  • Rocketbus breakout boards
  • Rocketbus cables

Misc Avionics Project Ideas

• Hardware
  • Build an open source/open hardware USB-based CAN bus monitor ("CAN-A-BUS") using the LPC2368. Includes ability to log all CAN messages to an SD card, LEDs to blink as messages go through, shows up either as serial port for quick and easy use or as a USB device for higher speed work.
  • Construct new 5.8, 2.4 and 1.5 GHz cylindrical patch antennas.
  • AV3 GPS system needs plenty of work.
  • AV3 battery pack requires all sorts of mechanical and electrical work.
  • AV3 battery board is currently in progress and could use help.
  • The ATV board could be done.
  • Help with final stages of AV3 generic node.
  • Re-wire the launch tower computer with new power supply, battery charger, and umbilical cord.
  • ETC - there are tons of AV3 projects.
• Firmware
  • Integration FAT filesystem to SD card into the free RTOS stack. Tiny-FAT would be a good open source option, and we've seen it running on an ARM7 in the past
    • Another option (used on multiple micro's with sample code) might be Chan's ELM - FAT: http://elm-chan.org/fsw/ff/00index_e.html
  • Integration of LPCUSB stack with Free RTOS