Challenge

How to enable communication between hex-copter and computer hub with minimal user involvement

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Process

Laid Arduino groundwork to decipher previously undocumented signal formatting

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Impact

Designed novel and behind-the-scenes method of data integration, enabled hex-copter's retrieval of vital mid-atmosphere weather readings

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Background:

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While meteorologists have developed numerous, highly accurate methods for measuring and modeling various attributes of the atmosphere, there still exists a large deficiency in meteorological information about a section of the atmosphere called the boundary layer. Temporally and spatially dense data collection around the boundary layer will enable more accurate prediction of local weather, such as low-level winds, fog, and convection currents.

This subsection of the Boundary Layer Sensor Platform Suitability Study aimed to fill that gap by equipping a specialized aerial vehicle called a hex-copter with atmospheric sensors that would wirelessly transmit the readings back to a ground station. The hex-copter would preferably be autonomous, capable of navigating between Waypoints (specific locations in space) via GPS coordinates, with a user option to define Waypoints either before take-off or during flight. In order for this to be possible, communication must be possible to and from the hex-copter, which was the focus of this study. Research consisted of three major stages: understanding the hex-copter program's set-up, extracting On-Screen Display data from the hex-copter, and manipulating Waypoints either on a connected computer or on the hex-copter itself.