Launching MatterHackers' Mascot Phil A. Ment to SPACE!
Learn how our 3D printed mascot Phil took a wild 56,000 ft. ride on a High Altitude Balloon constructed by Jacob Lucia of FLA Labs.
Launching Phil-A-Ment to SPACE!
With some help from MatterHackers, we sent their mascot, Phil-A-Ment, to near-space on a High Altitude Balloon (HAB)!
Step 1 – Design the Camera Platform
The camera platform had to accomplish 4 main goals
- Provide a stabilized platform for the Payload Camera
- Protect the camera from extreme cold and moisture
- House the battery and Remove Before Flight (RBF) circuit
- Include a Payload Arm to position Phil in front of the camera
It was decided that a triangular platform would be the most stable camera platform. We designed a “Boom and Pod” style enclosure that would hold the camera and battery in the pod while providing anchor points for payload lines at the end of each boom. A third boom was mounted in front of the camera for Phil’s mounting pad!
To make finding the payload after it lands easier, we decided to use MatterHackers Electric Orange Pro PLA. This worked perfectly for the camera housing! The material was plenty strong for this application and its vibrant color made our lives easier when it came to recovery!
The photo below shows the camera platform designed to carry Phil to space! You may notice that an extra camera was mounted pointing upward. This was intended to capture the bursting of the balloon, but it failed to capture video of the flight.
Step 2 – Designing the Electrical System
The RunCam5 Orange was used for this flight. Its onboard battery would not be sufficient for recording the duration of the flight (around 2 hours), so an external battery was needed. To be sure that the external battery stayed fully charged up to the moment the balloon was launched, a simple Remove Before Flight (RBF) switch was used.
The circuit diagram below shows how the camera was connected to the external battery and how the barrel jack was used as an RBF switch. Basically, when a barrel jack is plugged in, the battery can be charged but the camera will be disconnected from the attached source. When no barrel jack is plugged in, the battery is connected to the camera allowing for mid-flight charging and powering of the camera. Before the flight, an RBF tag (just the barrel jack and a tag, no wires) are plugged in to keep the battery from discharging before the launch.
Before launching the balloon, we did a number of tests with fully charged batteries and different camera settings to get a better idea of how long the camera would be able to record continuously before the battery would die or the memory card would get too full.
Step 3 – Launching the Balloon
There are a few things to consider before launching a weather balloon.
- Do you have permission with the FAA?
- What lifting gas will you fill the balloon with?
- How high will the balloon go?
- Where will the balloon land?
- How will you find the balloon after it lands?
We have created an informative video on our channel to address all of these questions and more! Check it out and leave us a comment if you have any questions!
Step 4 – Marvel in Wonder
Every HAB launch will have its challenges. On this particular launch we were testing a deployment mechanism that was tasked with releasing the balloon (and parachute) when we got too close to the coast of Lake Erie. Unfortunately, it failed, causing the parachute to come out before the balloon burst. This did result in some terrible tangling, but we still got pictures of Phil-A-Ment at an altitude of over 10 MILES and we think that is pretty cool!
For more awesome projects and 3D printing videos, check out FLA Labs on YouTube here!