Test Sensors

Here are some pictures of the sensors that Matt has put together for the initial testing of the platform. Click the images to be taken to larger versions.

The R/C aircraft is a Hobbyzone "Super Cub". The light weight and high power-to-weight ratio makes it an ideal body to get the sensor platform into flight and protect the more sensitive components from any inevitable crashes:


An Arduino is mounted in the main cargo bay. It collects data from a number of sensors and sends the information to an xbee radio to be transmitted to a ground station for recording:


A GPS chip is used to gather position data and altitude, and it calculates ground speed velocity:


An IR sensor mounted to the bottom of the plane provides more accurate altitude measurements, but only when near the ground:


A pitot tube arrangement provides air speed information:


A 3-axis gyroscope is scavenged from the Wii Motion+ element, and a 3-axis accelerometer is scavenged from the Wii Nunchuck. These two devices provide complementary motion data to define the motion of the aircraft through space: