Initial testing of the project began in early March. The GPS and cut-down functions were tested by transporting the system a short distance to an area outside a predefined zone of around 70 – 80 feet. Latitude and Longitude collected from the GPS was compared to the actual latitude and longitude of the testing area.
Write speeds to flash memory were testing by implemented a busy signal during the entire 512 byte block write. Once the write was completed, this busy signal was pulled low. The following oscilloscope image shows the expected throughput for the SD flash card interface for a full 512 byte block write.
The following three images show a small, medium, and large scale test that confirmed the functionality of the project.
A walk around the Student Union Building
Driving from my apartment to the MSU campus (Roberts Hall)
Driving from Bozeman, MT to Livingston, MT
Balloon Launch
Unfortunatley when we launched the payload with the high altitude balloon, the ME students were unable to track or locate the balloon during the flight. We suspect that is landed somewhere high in the Absorkee mountains south of Livingston based on flight predicition models. The payload and the recorded data were never recovered.