Web Interface Improvements

I am continuing to make improvements to the web interface that we will use to get most recent information on the High Altitude Balloon journey. The latest is a TAB with a Google Map showing where HAB has flown. It has the co-ordinates superimposed on the map. There is one potential issue and this is with the fact the phone needs to be connected to the Internet (to connect to Google) and it needs to also be able to talk to the Beaglebone black – simultaneously. Initial suggestions are that this might be difficult. I will continue to investigate ways of setting routes on the phone. There must be a way.

Enhancing Control of HAB from Mobile Phone

Much work has been done to improve the web interface delivered by the Beaglebone Black to the mobile phone browser. The following major enhancements have been made:-

* Only load last 20 messages during first load

* Add measurements, GPS data to status page and button to initiate cutdown. Also show the state of the cutdown. i.e. when the HAB responds saying it has initiated the cutdown

* Fixed up images, so that it is left aligned properly under standard browser on Samsung Android Phone

Work has also been done to load modules required by the TEW311M module. I’ve purchased this module, I’m still waiting for it to arrive. This module will allow me to setup this Beaglebone Black as an Access Point. It’ll hand out IPS to my mobile. This means I can do away with the idea of connecting a ‘home’ based wireless router. I will need to connect a stable 5 volt power supply to the beaglebone black though.

Other work done is to make it so that all necessary applications are started at boot up, so I don’t have to ssh in and start them up manually. This is working extremely well.

Upgrade of Communications Link

An attempt was made to communicate approximately 15km recently with the xBee’s but unfortunately there was no signal at all. I then drove closer (approximately 9km) and was able to get a signal and was able to retrieve a picture. During the transmission of the picture, the module had to re-download packets, but the image came through successfully without any distortions. This means the corrections to the xmodem libraries and the receiving module xmodem code has fixed up the issues!

I’ve made the decision that I need greater range for the HAB, so I’ve decided to purchase RFD900 modems. I’ve also decided that lugging a laptop around with a virtual operating system installed and trying to use it in the terrible light, connected up to the antenna is not practical and have decided instead to use a different arrangement. I’ve started coding this and it is working extremely well. A diagram showing how the data is ‘moved’ from the High Altitude Balloon and ultimately to the user is shown below.

Flow of data from HAB to Ground Station

I still have to work on the physical setup of these systems (putting in boxes) and connecting together in a reliable manner. Once this is done, I will start conducting some range tests.