We designed a low cost balloon-launch platform that did not require the use of expensive equipment such as radio modems (the total cost of our device did not exceed 150 dollars) or complicated hardware hacking (all of the components of our device were common electronics available off-the-shelf in stores).
The GPS receiver was a Motorola i290 “Boost Mobile” prepaid phone with internet and GPS capability (set up with Accutracking to constantly report its GPS location).
We bought a AA-battery cell phone charger to sustain the phone’s power over the duration of the flight, and we used Energizer lithium batteries (rated to operate at temperatures are low as -40F) to power both this charger as well as our camera.
As a further safeguard against electronic/battery failure due to low temperature, we utilitzed Coleman disposable hand warmers (placed near our electronics) to help keep our equipment warm in the cold of the stratosphere.
We loaded a Canon A470 camera (bought used on Amazon) with CHDK open source software to enable a feature which allowed the camera to take pictures continuously (intervalometer). Using this feature, we set the camera to take a picture every 5 seconds at a 1/800 second shutter speed. With an 8GB card, the camera was able to chronicle the whole journey of the balloon from launch to retrieval. (~5 hours)
Equipment Used in the Launch Capsule
| Item | Weight | Cost |
| Sounding Balloon 350g from Kaymont | 350g | ~$20 +$20 (helium) |
| Parachute | ~10g | ~$3* |
| Motorola i290 Prepaid Cellphone | ~90g, | ~$50** |
| Styrofoam Beer Cooler | ~15g | ~$0 |
| Duct Tape | ~10g | ~$0 |
| Zip Ties | ~5g | ~$0 |
| Canon A470 with 8GB SD card | ~165g, | ~$40*** |
| Insulation material- newspaper | ~5g | ~$0 |
| Duracell USB phone charger powered by AA batteries | ~20g 1oz | ~$10 |
| Instant Hand warmer | ~5g | ~$2**** |
| 4 Ultimate Lithium AA batteries | ~15g * 4 = 60 g | ~$5 |
| Radar Reflector (aluminum foil) | ~0g | ~$0 |
| Total | ~800g, /w misc. | ~$150 |
* Two things:
(1) We had one of these laying around, so we’re actually a little unclear about how much it would cost to get a plastic parachute with strings, but we can’t imagine it would be that much. However, we actually created a second launch vehicle using a trash bag as a parachute, so that is one way people could probably cut costs.
(2) It may not even be necessary to attach a parachute. For instance, I think that a large number of streamers dangling off the back of the box might provide enough drag to slow it down to a comparable landing speed.
** Some people have told us (and we have confirmed after some searching online) that the cost of the cell phone (usable for a similar launch) can actually go as low as $30. We paid $50 for ours though.
*** This was a lucky grab for us. One can do the same with a 4GB SD card with picture intervals of 10s each, and that will save you about $10. You can find cheap cameras on ebay or Amazon (used). You probably want to send a used one up anyways, considering the harsh conditions it will be subject to.
**** A packet of 6 handwarmers can be bought for ~$5 from Target. We used two handwarmers for our launch, one pressed against the camera and one pressed against the cell phone.
***** Many people have asked about the antenna in our pictures. It was an extra part from a used wireless router. However, i don’t actually think it’s necessary to have one (and in our second vehicle, we actually didn’t add the antenna.) As long as the cell phone can report its location after landing, one should be okay.
Amazing!
Can you pretty please add a ‘cost’ field to your table, and show the cost of each item?
wow thats amazing! you guys are absolute legend!! a true inspiration : )
Are there any scientific questions that can be looked into using this type of flight event?
Such as:
Maybe pollution measurements? Radiation? Sunspots? Ozone layer? Carbon?
Maybe one could also point a camera at space objects and get a good picture due to less atmospheric interference at that height?
How high can a balloon possibly go at most? Can it be predicted accurately?
Grassroots FTW.
It would be fun for your audience if such balooners send their data real time to a website, so we could all watch your flights too.
[...] past, I’ve never seen it done so cheaply. High school science teachers, please take note! [L337arts via [...]
So easy to do. Just need the clearance form Air Traffic Control first. But wow. How many school sized experiments could you do with a larger baloon?
I know you had GPS to track, but how did you get the camera and stuff back? Wouldn’t they have landed pretty far away?
[...] $150, you too can take photos from space via balloon. $150 view of space Credit: [...]
Although as a photographer this is cool, it seems like a lot of time is spent these days doing things for the sake of being “dugg” or to land on Youtube. Was there a practical purpose of this, or just to take photos?
Expected more from MIT students than a social media stunt to geotag their flight into upper atmosphere.
Kevin, for less than the price of an intercity train ticket, they photographed our planet from space.
I doubt your “expectations” will lose them much sleep.
Kevin, the students attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology figured out a way to photograph space for one hundred and fifty dollars…
What have you done remotely as awesome for a hundred and fifty dollars?
Bitter much?
Kev,
Ever seen the curvature of the Earth? Blackness of space? They’ve photographed it.
Kev-bro,
Practical purpose of photography? This is a pure example of creative art. What do you do? Photograph foreclosures for Bank of America?
Commercial GPS units have altitude limit of 60000′ for security reasons. Did you encounter any problems with this or find a way around it?
WOW!
@Dr. Leet
I don’t think it matters. The GPS / Phone thing only has to function on the recovery stage of the project. So while the phone may be sending bad data to AccuTracking for anything over 60k feet, it’ll be fine for the important part.
@Kevin
What?
Man, this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Do you really think that a bunch of MIT students did this ONLY to get Dugg? The wonder of being able to explore your world is worth more than the roughly one month of StumbleUpon ‘fame’ you’ll get. And think of the value that this could be to teachers everywhere!
Do you remember PV=nRT? The gas laws apply to this project; fluid dynamics apply to this project; computer science (the CHDK camera hack) applies to this project; hardcore, “I’m the hero that MacGyver dreams about,” bad-assery applies to this project.
I’m doing this as soon as I can. I don’t feel bad about being a copier, I won’t feel bad about not getting on Digg or Reddit– I’m going to be ecstatic about having pictures I TOOK FROM SPACE.
[...] MIT students list everything that they used to assemble the launch vehicle, including a prepaid Motorola i290 phone with GPS, a [...]
[...] su fabricación, el MIT ha publicado la lista de los componentes y características necesarias para ensamblar el vehículo de lanzamiento, entre los cuales se incluyen un teléfono de [...]
[...] no passado, mas nunca vi fazerem a um custo tão baixo. Professores de ciências, fiquem ligados! [L337arts [...]
Did the GPS module work in space and if yes, what was the maximum altitude?
[...] MIT students list everything that they used to assemble the launch vehicle, including a prepaid Motorola i290 phone with GPS, a [...]
Just to be nitpicky… The cooler, zip ties, and duct tape might have been on hand but their value is not $0. Likewise, the helium they used to fill the balloon also has a price associated with it. So the out of pocket cost might have been below $150 but the total value of the materials exceeds the price limit.
And yes, I know I’m being a pedantic jerk. I’m done now. Sorry.
Although you raise a good point about the non-zero cost of the duct tape and zip ties, their cost estimate is still accurate. It appears they used less than 10 wire ties, which have a cost of a few pennies each. Duct tape likewise has a cost of a few pennies per foot. Newspaper cost is a few pages per penny. These items likely added well under a dollar to the cost, so the cost estimate on this page is accurate to more than two significant figures.
[...] Their hardware specs are, alas, not in the article, but some MIT students replicated their work at the same $150 price point. [...]
[...] continuous pictures (intervalometer), and an eight gigabyte memory card, among a few other items. See the entire list of hardware used. Justin Lee (left) and Oliver Yeh retrieve the downed camera, located using the attached GPS [...]
I don’t see the antenna listed here, what was the cost of the antenna? Which kind did you use?
Excellent stuff!!
Thx