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Construction of the Balloon Project

Construction of the Balloon Project. SCIPP Interns. Project Objectives. Design and build a relatively simple detector Weigh less then 5 kg Collect Muon count rate data at altitude. Challenges. Weight limit to fit on balloon Data transmission/storage Physical structure

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Construction of the Balloon Project

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  1. Construction of the Balloon Project SCIPP Interns

  2. Project Objectives • Design and build a relatively simple detector • Weigh less then 5 kg • Collect Muon count rate data at altitude

  3. Challenges • Weight limit to fit on balloon • Data transmission/storage • Physical structure • Getting counts to get significant data

  4. Weight • FCC requirements • Balloon must be under 6 feet in diameter • Payload must be less then 5kg

  5. Objects • Scintillator Panels with PMTs and basses- 1kg • Balloon-.3kg • Quarknet Board-.3kg • Line-1kg • Physical structure-1.5 kg • Batteries-.15 kg • Extra lift- .5kg • Total weight: 4.75kg

  6. Original Design

  7. Specifications • One Scintillator panel with two PMTs • Two Xbee wireless Transmitter/receivers to transmit live data to the ground • Battery with power supply board • Lightweight box made of balsa wood

  8. Scintillator Panel • One ¼ Panel • 35cm*35cm square • Two PMTs attached to apposing corners to reduce noise.

  9. Wireless Transmitter • Requirements: • Must transmit at least 1000ft • Must be small and light weight • Must have low power consumption

  10. Solution?

  11. Special Operation Requirements of Xbee • Needed a special circuit • Needed non standard headers to connect to board • Solution: • Build our own board

  12. Etching PC Boards • Layout traces on computer • Print traces to glossy photo paper • Iron on traces to copper clad board • Etch off copper with FeCl2 acid solution • Rinse board and clean off ink

  13. Problems Using the Xbee • Needed a Complex culture to properly communicate with the computer Solution: • Use a Basic Stamp as a Data logger

  14. Basic Stamp Data Logger • Function • Basic stamp is in sleep mode at launch • After 15 min. Stamp turns on and sends signal to board to start counting • After an experiment is finished, the stamp reads the count data from the quarknet board and goes into sleep mode. • On the ground the data is read out on a computer.

  15. Power • Power requirements • Xbee transmitter – 3.3v at 215mA • Each PMT – 8v at 20mA • Quarknet board – 5v at 800mA • Total of 1075mA

  16. Battery • Must be light • Must provide at least 8v • Must have at least 2000mAh rating

  17. Solution • 3 cell Li-ion battery at 11.1v • We found a battery with: • 11.1v • 2200mAh • Weight of .15kg

  18. Power Supply board • Made from scratch • Uses: • 2 NTE 964 positive 8v voltage regulators • 1 NTE 960 positive 5v voltage regulator • 1 TI 5cc85r9 positive 3.3v voltage regulator • All of the components have T022o Packaging and can handle 1A each

  19. BOX • Requirements • Must be light • Must be sturdy enough to protect scintillator • Must enclose PMT bases • Must hold all electronics

  20. Quarknet Board • Uses: • Counts solo and coincidence data from the scintillator • Discriminates signal • Sends data through a serial port to Computer/Transmitter/Data Logger

  21. Problems with Quarknet board • Power supply malfunction burnt capacitor. • Board was rendered useless for the balloon project

  22. Solutions • Use the ccrt Board • Add coaxle cables to LED output on CCRD board • Use FPGA to read signal from LEDs and count coincidences and display counts.

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