X-Git-Url: https://git.gag.com/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=EasyMotor%2Findex.mdwn;h=6fac57af2dc7f08c21cd6c6c5dd4bd1e42fb7dea;hb=7d5d9d2ea525c82d5e47bc60e5bb84875eec2267;hp=170d231bbc9ce01d93f859f84be1b6c998fa4692;hpb=7711d96253c1c44b72cf528db8db0184e3c16d68;p=web%2Faltusmetrum diff --git a/EasyMotor/index.mdwn b/EasyMotor/index.mdwn index 170d231..6fac57a 100644 --- a/EasyMotor/index.mdwn +++ b/EasyMotor/index.mdwn @@ -5,71 +5,132 @@ This board is designed for in-flight characterization of research rocket motors. It records chamber pressure and acceleration to an on-board flash memory chip, the contents of which can be downloaded after flight over USB. +This is what a production v3 board looks like: + + + + ## Features ## ### User View ### * Data logger storing motor chamber pressure and acceleration -* supports inexpensive 5V analog output pressure sensors -* 3-axis 200-g accelerometer -* On-board non-volatile memory for flight data storage -* USB for configuration, and data recovery -* Designed for use with a battery from 9-12V +* works with inexpensive 5V analog output pressure sensors +* USB for configuration, data recovery, and battery charging +* Designed for use with a single-cell LiPo battery * 1.5 x 0.8 inch board +### Developer View ### + +* Hardware Features + * [NXP LPC11U14](http://www.nxp.com/products/microcontrollers/cortex_m0_m0/LPC11U14FHI33.html) System-on-Chip + * ARM Cortex-M0 MCU + * 32k Flash + * 6k RAM + * USB 2.0 + * 8 12-bit analog inputs + * I2C, SPI, async serial + * digital I/O + * Analog Devices [ADXL375](https://www.analog.com/en/products/adxl375.html) 3-Axis Digital MEMS Accelerometer + * +- 200g full-scale + * on-chip digitizer + * on-board USB-based charger for single-cell LiPo battery + * low noise 5V switching regulator to power pressure sensor + * precision divider with 0.1% resistors to scale pressure sensor + analog output to match SOC analog input voltage range + +* Software Features + * Written mostly in C with some ARM assembler + * Runs from on-chip flash, uses on-chip RAM, stores flight data to serial flash + * USB serial emulation for "console" interface + +* Tools Used + * [lepton-eda](https://github.com/lepton-eda/lepton-eda) for schematic capture + * [pcb-rnd](http://repo.hu/projects/pcb-rnd/) for PCB layout + +* Licenses + * The hardware is licensed under the [TAPR](http://www.tapr.org) [Open Hardware License](http://www.tapr.org/ohl.html) + * The software is licensed [GPL version 2](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html) + ## Example Installations ## There are lots of ways to mount an EasyMotor board, but since we've been asked, here are a few photos from snap-ring case forward closures -machined by Bdale for -test flights of EasyMotor. The sensor bodies are 316 stainless with a 1/8 NPT -male boss, so the approach chosen is to drill a 1/8 inch touch hole all the -way through the closure, then drill and tap 1/8 NPT female threads part way -through the closure thickness. The hole gets filled with grease and the -sensor screwed in. - -The first example is a 98mm snap-ring closure, with the -sensor and electronics mounted off-center so a 3/8" all-thread could be used -in the center for motor retention in a minimum-diameter-ish airframe. The -mounting bracket for the electronics was bent from a bit of 1/16" aluminum -sheet and screwed to the forward closure with two short 4-40 screws into -tapped and drilled mounting holes. Note the use of an A23 12v alkaline battery -in a holder on the bracket wiht the -EasyMotor prototype. These batteries are fine for a flight or two, and both -they and the little holders for them are cheap on Amazon and make installations -like this fairly easy to put together: +machined by Bdale for test flights of EasyMotor. For launch detection to +work, the board must be mounted so the board's long axis is aligned with the +axis of flight, and by default the "beeper end" must be towards the nose. +Note that these examples all feature earlier versions of EasyMotor that used +a different power supply and battery strategy. Don't be confused by that! The +production version of EasyMotor uses our standard Altus Metrum LiPo batteries. + +The body of the pressure sensors used are 316 stainless with a 1/8 NPT +male boss, so Bdale's usual approach is to drill a 1/8 inch "touch hole" or +sampling port all the way through the forward closure, then drill and tap +1/8 NPT female threads part way through the closure thickness. The hole +gets filled with grease, and then the sensor screwed in. Since Bdale usually +builds airframes that assume the recovery harness can attach to the motor +case, several prototype installations depended on the stainless steel sensor +body to act as a bolt to attach a bracket that supported both circuit board +mounting and recovery harness attachment. + +The first example is a 98mm snap-ring closure, with the sensor and +electronics mounted off-center so a 3/8" all-thread could be used +in the center for motor retention in a minimum-diameter-ish airframe. This +motor had a small gap between the forward propellant grain and the forward +closure, so having the pressure sampling port off-center wasn't a +problem. The mounting bracket for the electronics was bent from a bit of +1/16" aluminum sheet and screwed to the forward closure with two short 4-40 +screws into tapped and drilled mounting holes. Note that this early version +of EasyMotor used an A23 12v alkaline battery in a holder on the bracket. Those +batteries were fine for a flight or two, but dealing with them was a hassle, +which is one of the reasons the production was designed to use a LiPo. -This second example is on a 75mm snap-ring closure, and was Bdale's first attempt -using 16-gauge steel to bend a mounting bracket that could also be used for recovery -harness attachment. Another A23 and holder are taped on the other side of the -sensor not visible in this photo: +This second example is on a 75mm snap-ring closure, and was Bdale's first +attempt using 16-gauge steel to bend a mounting bracket that could also be +used for recovery harness attachment. Another A23 and holder are taped on +the other side of the sensor not visible in this photo: -This example is a refinement of the 16-gauge steel strap used to form a mounting -bracket and harness retention point, this time for a 54mm snap-ring closure. -Bdale has flown this setup several times now, and the only down-side is that -it obvious takes up a few extra inches of airframe length. Note the quik-link -wrapped in electrical tape to make sure it doesn't flop down and short against +This example is a refinement of the 16-gauge steel strap used to form a +mounting bracket and harness retention point, this time for a 54mm snap-ring +closure. Bdale flew this setup several times, and the only down-side is that +it obvious takes up a few extra inches of airframe length. Note the quik-link +wrapped in electrical tape to make sure it doesn't flop down and short against any of the electronics in flight. Note also a long piece of shooter wire that gets fed through a vent hole in the airframe as a twist-n-tape power switch. +If machining closures isn't something you want to do, +[Loki Research](https://lokiresearch.com) now sells "experimental bulkheads" +for 54mm and 75mm snap-ring cases that are well suited for mounting a pressure +sensor to use with EasyMotor. + ## Artifacts ## -The firmware for this product is part of the [AltOS](../AltOS) suite. +Motor characterization products from Altus Metrum are documented in a manual +available in [html](../AltOS/doc/motortest.html) and +[pdf](../AltOS/doc/motortest.pdf) formats. -This board was designed using lepton-eda and pcb-rnd. +The firmware for this product is part of the [AltOS](../AltOS) suite. Test +data can be downloaded, plotted, and exported in CVS form using the altosui +ground station executable. -The hardware design files are available from +The current hardware design files are available from [git.gag.com](http://git.gag.com) in the project [hw/easymotor](http://git.gag.com/?p=hw/easymotor;a=summary). +For easy reference, pdf snapshots of the files used for production version 3 +are available here: + +* [schematic](v3/easymotor-sch.pdf) +* [pcb artwork](v3/easymotor-pcb.pdf) +* [bill of materials](v3/partslist.csv) + ## Availability ## -Prototypes of v2 were built and successfully flown. An initial production -batch is now underway, and we hope these will be for sale around the end of -calendar year 2020. +Version 3 is in production and available for sale. +