Here's the original text for the 2008 Capstone project. It's been substantially changed, but for the record, here it is.
Pyrotechnic Node
| Project title: | Launch Vehicle Pyrotechnic Node |
| Sponsor: | Portland State Aerospace Society (http://psas.pdx.edu/) |
| Contact: | Andrew Greenberg |
The Portland State Aerospace Society (PSAS) is an educational aerospace project based here at Portland State. We're a group of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and local industry engineers who are currently working on small, amateur launch vehicle. Our launch vehicles have some of the world's most advanced avionics for amateur vehicles, including Linux-based flight computers and full inertial navigation systems. For more information, see http://psas.pdx.edu/
PSAS is currently building our 4th generation avionics system. One component of this system is the pyrotechnic node, which is used to release parachutes and/or separate stages at the correct time during flight. The pyrotechnic node is:
- Based on the NXP LPC2148 ARM7 microcontroller.
- Independently powered using a small Li Ion battery.
- Safety-critical.
The node will need to:
- Detect launch.
- Detect apogee.
- Fire pyrotechnic charges to release parachutes and/or separate stages.
- Log information to local storage.
Our goal is to have an operational pyrotechnic node by the end of May.
We require 2-4 people who will have to work on detailed design documentation, switched power supplies, analog sensor design, board layout, and some ARM7 firmware. This project will be a tremendous amount of work. Although we're hoping to have team members already have some experience with embedded systems, we are willing to train enthusiastic students.
Navigation node (canceled)
| Project title: | Launch Vehicle Navigation Sensor Suite |
| Sponsor: | Portland State Aerospace Society (http://psas.pdx.edu/) |
| Contact: | Andrew Greenberg |
The Portland State Aerospace Society (PSAS) is an educational aerospace project based here at Portland State. We're a group of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and local industry engineers who are currently working on small, amateur launch vehicle. Our launch vehicles have some of the world's most advanced avionics for amateur vehicles, including Linux-based flight computers and full inertial navigation systems. For more information, see http://psas.pdx.edu/
PSAS is currently building our 4th generation avionics system. One component of this system is the navigation sensor suite, which combines:
- A standard PSAS avionics board, based on the NXP LPC2148 ARM7 microcontroller.
- 3 axis accelerometers.
- 3 axis rate gyroscopes.
- 3D magnetometer.
- Barometric altimeter.
Our goal is to have a calibrated inertial sensor by the end of May.
We require 2-4 people who will have to work on detailed design documentation, very low noise analog circuitry, noise floor calculations, DSP of the incoming data, and test and calibration of the system.