SparkFun Electronics Commentsurn:uuid:214d0e4e-f1b1-d287-ce26-ac5b4c9f82492024-03-19T01:32:33-06:00SparkFun Electronicssanket.sonavane on Ball Aerospace Launch!sanket.sonavaneurn:uuid:3e467a55-6f53-a065-29df-349559fb9c8b2011-08-10T10:44:35-06:00<p>Wow this is awesome.<br>
Google Earth Live FPV & Cellular Telemetry<br>
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/google-earth-live-fpv-amp</p>
sanket.sonavane on Ball Aerospace Launch!sanket.sonavaneurn:uuid:758e866d-4237-f7e3-2fed-dd527e77b29c2011-08-10T10:42:34-06:00<p>I know this methog , i thought there might be some method to directly interface the xbox 360 joystick with the arduino.</p>
sanket.sonavane on Ball Aerospace Launch!sanket.sonavaneurn:uuid:2d8b4081-cc2b-2b13-5791-1c499e48c8cf2011-08-10T10:41:13-06:00<p>LabView looks complex but will see what it can do.<br>
Best wishes for your book.</p>
jdhibbs on Ball Aerospace Launch!jdhibbsurn:uuid:0b38bd87-bb9f-49ce-824e-78c0f66ac0282011-08-09T15:00:06-06:00<p>I don't think the problem is getting to Mars as much as getting it to stop on the surface without going crunch. As you can see, getting stuff to land safely on our planet is hard enough. If smacking into a planet counts as a successful landing, the Russians beat us to the moon by many years. I really think when those soccer ball style NASA landing crafts hit Mars, the Martians kick the mess out of it a couple of times before it comes to stop.</p>
CF on Ball Aerospace Launch!CFurn:uuid:ad423056-25bd-477a-05a7-f1786c36789e2011-08-09T06:01:16-06:00<p>Amazing that a company known for aluminum cans and glass jars also makes rockets and satellites. Makes me wonder when Sparkfun is going to start manufacturing wicker furniture and garden gnomes!</p>
Blacklab1 on Ball Aerospace Launch!Blacklab1urn:uuid:741f2db6-929d-090d-87ed-384553c08e9d2011-08-09T04:16:13-06:00<p>You mean the failures has nothing to do with the G's they are pulling to escape earth gravity? Plus the extra G's you have to pull to get a craft to escape orbit to launch it toward the plannets?</p>
Blacklab1 on Ball Aerospace Launch!Blacklab1urn:uuid:ff1b65a2-e83a-6a4e-f130-5f49c59afaa92011-08-09T03:35:30-06:00<p>So do they know why it was miss-packed? They weren't using ball Jars? (I know bad joke).<br>
But there is a funny story about of Ball Aerospace- and YES they are/where part of the same company that made your canning jars that your grandmother used to uses. From the way I used to hear it: Ball Canning made too much money back in the early 80’s and NASA wanted to get rid of part of it’s satellite divisions, so Ball Canning bought that division out. And the rest is history according to one of it’s old employees. Cool fun fact is they used to make lenses out of soap bubbles (at least that's how the story goes).</p>
Blacklab1 on Ball Aerospace Launch!Blacklab1urn:uuid:5fffc0f8-6858-1f1c-e69b-b60aeb70ef0f2011-08-09T03:32:33-06:00<p>Ball Aerospace- That's just down the street from you guys right?</p>
Jeff Haas on Ball Aerospace Launch!Jeff Haasurn:uuid:b60473d2-e66d-b5c3-7e8e-0b9719d4497f2011-08-08T17:07:58-06:00<p>Here's video of what happens to our probes that go to Mars:<br>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjiGH9QNiU0<br>
(Animation by a friend of mine.)</p>
bplotnick on Ball Aerospace Launch!bplotnickurn:uuid:fff36a26-a6ef-2576-73d0-c4a2cba636d62011-08-08T15:33:07-06:00<p>Interpret the joystick buttons as keyboard presses (check out GlovePIE) and then send those characters over serial (via XBee). The Arduino only has to interpret the ASCII characters.</p>
scharkalvin on Ball Aerospace Launch!scharkalvinurn:uuid:8e008bb9-2df2-10d5-2313-f410c26e74f32011-08-08T15:19:03-06:00<p>I hope it looked like Bullwinkle.</p>
TyTower on Ball Aerospace Launch!TyTowerurn:uuid:bc3ce5db-a05d-3d1d-6cb8-e00b732f75362011-08-08T14:42:00-06:00<p>Missions to mars fail often because originally we come from mars but it became wasted so we landed in the north of Africa in a similar climate and gradually spred out over the planet.<br>
Now the Martians that remained don't remember us and consider us earthians and alien to them and don't trust our motives . Just as well hey?</p>
TimCole on Ball Aerospace Launch!TimColeurn:uuid:ae16f2dc-22a7-d91a-a78d-1892a38887812011-08-08T13:54:03-06:00<p>Yeah, that "I thought you meant Newtons" thing was pretty embarrassing. That was at the height of the "better, cheaper, faster" nonsense. Unfortunately, you can have only two of them at once.<br>
I've long thought that NASA never really recovered from the end of the Apollo program.</p>
TimCole on Ball Aerospace Launch!TimColeurn:uuid:7ebf59d3-edb2-5b27-4eab-04992fce212a2011-08-08T13:50:57-06:00<p>Somewhere in the late '70s, a group of aerospace specialists came up with the "Great Galactic Ghoul", said to reside near the orbit of Mars.</p>
andy4us on Ball Aerospace Launch!andy4usurn:uuid:31296737-6d42-6049-ec19-7f7b7ef10d5b2011-08-08T13:43:05-06:00<p>Google FPV or first person video. This is the art of flying radio controlled aircraft by using a camera mounted to the aircraft and watching the live video relayed back. Most of this stuff is 2.4Ghz, and also includes speed and altimeter overlays.</p>
htimmis on Ball Aerospace Launch!htimmisurn:uuid:9b971c82-edf1-006d-3766-f463ddc3b7252011-08-08T13:29:58-06:00<p>I use LabVIEW to interface the Xbox Controller and the Arduino together in October I am coming out with a book that describes this process in detail the book is called "Practical Arduino Engineering"</p>
bplotnick on Ball Aerospace Launch!bplotnickurn:uuid:afb2846f-32bb-2669-5e45-ab70b35280312011-08-08T12:59:22-06:00<p>10,000 ft AGL</p>
TheRegnirps on Ball Aerospace Launch!TheRegnirpsurn:uuid:826ff985-4c6f-1b30-858a-a8f2b4cbb6d72011-08-08T12:58:22-06:00<p>Wait a minute! You launched from Colorado and reached 10,000 feet? I expected to see it basically fall over and call it good. How did it do AGL?</p>
TheRegnirps on Ball Aerospace Launch!TheRegnirpsurn:uuid:121ebb95-144c-50f9-53a0-51883a07a2a02011-08-08T12:23:48-06:00<p>Shouldn't the Mars Rover simulation have a 20 minute delay built in to all commands and all returned video?</p>
sanket.sonavane on Ball Aerospace Launch!sanket.sonavaneurn:uuid:52dfd3a8-77d7-6848-e5a0-a76c6c394a3f2011-08-08T12:04:25-06:00<ol>
<li>Can someone elaborate on the 2.4GHz camera used here.<br>
Where can i find a similar wireless transmitter receiver which<br>
can provide a decent range at least a 100~150 feet.Do we have something like this here on Sparkfun.</li>
<li>How does one interface a Xbox 360 controller with the arduino.</li>
</ol>
wdmichael on Ball Aerospace Launch!wdmichaelurn:uuid:1ba232e4-00bd-6b01-6515-f6a307fcf3ad2011-08-08T11:46:54-06:00<p>As an aerospace engineer, I am pleased to see this and thanks, Sparkfun, for supporting this worthy program. For those interested in pursuing rocketry, I suggest you look at another Colorado business, Apogee Rockets, at www.apogeerockets.com.<br>
(I am not associated with Apogee except as a satisfied customer)</p>
wdmichael on Ball Aerospace Launch!wdmichaelurn:uuid:34723c2f-651d-32b1-15b2-ab23cc82d2a22011-08-08T11:43:44-06:00<p>It's a good question, scharkalvin. IMO, it's a move away from sound system engineering practices. During Apollo, NASA was the master of system engineering. Now, it's more of a bureaucracy than anything else. I mean, really, losing a package due to using different engineering units across an interface (Mars Explorer)?</p>
stilldavid on Ball Aerospace Launch!stilldavidurn:uuid:c6b6ca43-efba-cc4e-108d-cef616d5e6552011-08-08T11:17:47-06:00<p>Yes, an inflatable moose head. I wish we had been able to take pictures at Ball Aerospace HQ before the launch, but there was a strict no-photography policy :(<br>
The moose head was attached to a compressed air can that was rigged to inflate upon ejection from the rocket. We never did see the outcome...</p>
RobertC. on Ball Aerospace Launch!RobertC.urn:uuid:b9793757-8b50-be3c-b014-01a74844052d2011-08-08T10:47:16-06:00<p>I wished I would have gone! Next time, next time...</p>
dksmall on Ball Aerospace Launch!dksmallurn:uuid:fa7dc606-9134-b659-3f8e-9efc7079cb2d2011-08-08T10:34:14-06:00<p>An inflatable moose head??</p>
dksmall on Ball Aerospace Launch!dksmallurn:uuid:0bbfcc9f-e683-f7de-f639-f2924af8c6f02011-08-08T10:34:10-06:00<p>An inflatable moose head??</p>
SomeGuy123 on Ball Aerospace Launch!SomeGuy123urn:uuid:0f8273a4-672e-b48c-7bc7-89a495443cec2011-08-08T10:32:15-06:00<p>More spacecraft are sent to Mars than any of those planets, which translates to more failures.</p>
SomeGuy123 on Ball Aerospace Launch!SomeGuy123urn:uuid:967c000d-cfbc-fde6-a3eb-ee16b69b324d2011-08-08T10:10:16-06:00<p>It is 'jinxed' because it is far away.</p>
Nick Poole on Ball Aerospace Launch!Nick Pooleurn:uuid:ebbfbe88-a0b9-b11c-6ccb-9273334fea222011-08-08T10:01:12-06:00<p>It's because they're all sabotaged by the Martians.</p>
scharkalvin on Ball Aerospace Launch!scharkalvinurn:uuid:10b8b13b-2761-821f-8269-e6ccb6abe0a22011-08-08T09:58:16-06:00<p>"Unfortunately, due to a mis-packed parachute, the Mars Rover Simulation payload did not deploy and the meticulously crafted vehicle plummeted to earth. Crunch. "<br>
Why is Mars such a jinxed destination? More spacecraft have gone missing going to Mars than other planets further away. Even SIMULATED Mars missions seem to be jinxed!</p>
stilldavid on Ball Aerospace Launch!stilldavidurn:uuid:f8be4a17-2497-cec8-e714-bae6a56d638e2011-08-08T09:57:47-06:00<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stilldavid/5992861700/" title="I tried to do stabilization, honest" rel="nofollow">Here's a (rather shaky) video</a> of The Future lifting off from the pad.</p>
sgrace on Ball Aerospace Launch!sgraceurn:uuid:f90274ba-1454-e948-c59b-b7689ce3d02d2011-08-08T09:50:07-06:00<p>The commands were sent via the 900MHz and the video feed was at 2.4GHz.<br>
Hopefully that clears up your confusion.</p>
udawat on Ball Aerospace Launch!udawaturn:uuid:17cc26ee-9fa7-0538-8175-b5941e60b1422011-08-08T09:41:59-06:00<p>The camera used was 2.4 GHz but xBee was 900MHz?</p>