Pico Trackers

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Project Pico Trackers
Status In progress
Contact User:Costyn_van_Dongen
Last Update 2013-11-13

Intro

This page is about a so-called tracker for use with small ("pico") balloons, which is light-weight electronics board carried by a balloon which sends telemetry back to earth.

What it does:

  • get position data from the GPS receiver
  • (optionally) get other data like temperature, battery voltage, barometric pressure
  • broadcast this data using a radio transmitter (RTTY, 70cm band, about 10 mW)
  • repeat steps above...

Hardware

The hardware consists of a custom PCB, a uBlox6G GPS, an RFM22B transmitter and controlled by an ATMega328.

Power budget

To reduce the power consumption as much as possible, the board runs at a low voltage, 1.8V. The AVR clock frequency needs to be limited to 4 MHz, as this is the fastest the AVR can run at this voltage. See here for more information on running at low-voltage / low-frequency mode.

Current estimates:

Component current Remark
RFM22B 27 mA 27 mA @ +11 dBm transmit
uBlox 6G 12.2 mA 22 mW @ 1.8 V Power Save Mode (1 Hz)
AVR 1.7 active current, 4 MHz, 3V
Total 41 mA current drawn from the 1.8V boosted voltage

An Energizer 1.5V primary lithium battery has a capacity of about 3000 mAh, assuming 1.2V average voltage. Adjusting for step-up ratio (1.8V / 1.2V) and voltage converter efficiency (60%), this means about 103 mA average current draw from the battery. The battery is then expected to last on the order of 29 hours (3000 mAh / 103 mA).

Weight budget

TODO: which balloon to use (depends on payload weight, desired free lift, desired float altitude, etc.)

Rough weight estimates:

Component weight Remark
Battery 15 g one 1.5V lithium AA (non-rechargable)
Enclosure 10 g insulation to reduce RFM22B drift, "rope", etc.
PCB + components 5 g rough guess
Miscellaneous 5 g battery holder, wiring, antenna, etc.
Total 35 g

Schematic

Schematics:

AbL99Qj.jpg

Andere benodigde onderdelen

Designator Description Manufacturer Manufacturer Part Number Manufacturer series Package Value
ANT1 ANTENNA Johanson Technology Inc 1575AT43A0040 GPS ANTENNA
C1 Capacitor - non polarized 0805 0.1uF
C2 Capacitor - non polarized 0805 0.1uF
C3 Capacitor - non polarized 0805 0.1uF
C4 Capacitor - non polarized 0805 0.1uF
C5 Capacitor - non polarized 0805 18pF
C6 Capacitor - non polarized 0805 18pF
C7 Capacitor - non polarized 0805 0.1uF
C8 Capacitor - non polarized 0805 0.1uF
C9 Capacitor - non polarized 1210 10uF
C10 Capacitor - non polarized 1210 10uF
C11 Capacitor - non polarized 0805 0.1uF
C12 Capacitor - non polarized 0805 1uF
CON2 6 pin 2.54mm Dual Row Pin Header
CON3 SMA Emerson 142-0701-801 SMA (End-Launch)
CON4 CON JST BOX 2P JST JST 2P
CON5 3 pin 2.54mm Pin Header
FB1 Ferrite Bead 0805 Murata BLM21BD102SN1D EMIFIL FB1
L1 SMD Shielded Tiny Power Inductor WE-TPC, L=2.5µH Wurth 744031002 WE-TPC 3816 2.5 µH
LED1 Led 0603 2mA - 1.8V
LED2 Led 0603 2mA - 1.8V
R1 resistor 0805 2K2
R2 resistor 0805 2K2
R3 resistor 0805 10K
R4 resistor 0805 10K
R5 resistor 0805 1K6
R6 resistor 0805 1K6
R7 resistor 0805 10K
R8 resistor 0805 475K
R9 resistor 0805 182K
U1 GPS UBlox MAX-6G
U2 uC Atmel ATmega328P of [1] ATMEGA328P-AU
U3 Tranceiver HopeRF RFM22B
U4 Pressure Sensor Bosch BMP085
U5 DC/DC Regulator TI TPS61200 tps61200drct
XTAL1 4Mhz Crystal TXC CORPORATION AT-4.000MAGE-T HC49/US 4MHz

Parts Pricing

Upu's store

Pico Trackers GPS Radio parts.png

  • Zo'n €33,- per setje (gps+antenne, 434MHz zender)

Farnell

Pico Trackers - other bits.png

  • Om van alles één te hebben is het ongeveer 7,87 euro.