Recent completions

-In addition to the half of the aluminum box, the bracket for the camera has been fabricated. A thick chunk of clear plastic was used to create the bracket because of its strength and resistance to breakage. All of our components must be able to withstand the approximately 10g's they will experience when the balloon parachute deploys. Not all of the corresponding holes for attaching the bracket to the box have been drilled. One hole has been drilled on the bottom side of the bracket to aid in mounting the camera for testing. The cut out for the servo that acts as the mechanical finger has also been completed. The servo must be mounted to the bracket so that it moves with the camera.

-A program has been compiled to synchronized the servos using the microprocessor.

-Testing of the camera has revealed the normal temperature increase of various parts of the camera body while sitting in room temperature conditions. From those tests we have concluded that the camera will most likely turn off because it is not producing enough heat to keep the internal temperature in the operating range. More tests with the finished housing and insulation will be performed in a controlled chamber. With the use of the chamber will be attempting to simulating the atmospheric temperatures that the box will experience once it has been launched.