High Altittude Balloon Project. [Payload]

Construction of the Payload.

The purpose of the payload is not only create a packaging compartment for the electronics but to be the best aerodynamic.  This meant that the payload had to have a specific shape and form.  Heavy duty foam was chosen as our choice of material because not only was it the a great material for absorbing impact but it is easily manipulated.

The above picture displays the foam utilized to create the payload and prototypes.
 One major difficulty utilized this specific material was that it was difficult to take of the paper attached to both sides.  If it was not completely taken of it would cause difficulties when carving and shaping the material.

At first it was done by cutting out square pieces of foam and then spraying adhesive on them to keep them together.   

Dome Shape

Sphere Shape

Diamond Shape

Tear Drop Shape

Afterwords, many shapes were made from this material and trialed in order to deduce which shape would best hand wind, reduce drag as it rises and decrease drag as it rises. Test were done by using a leaf blower at different angles.

It was then determined that the Tear Drop Shape was best aerodynamic since it had all the qualities that was previously mentioned.

After obtaining the diameters for the circles that had to carved out in Solid Works, we began carving. The solid works provided a shape capable of having a 5" x 5" x 5" cavity inside.

Diameters obtained from solid works

 

A dremel was utilized to carve the circular shapes.

After words the foam was glued on together with adhesive spray.  Note is best to let the adhesive cure for about 1-2 hours in order for it to properly cure.

 

Once the adhesive has cured, spray foam, Great Stuff, was used to cover the dips and cracks of the foam.

After 8 hours the spray foam will have settled and carving may commence. Heavy grain sand paper may be used to shape the payload.  I do not recommend dremel.

Tear Drop Shape:  Final Payload on Left.  Prototype Payload on Right

After obtain most of the electronics that will be going inside the payload we began carving the payload.

We also realized it was best to cut the payload in half vertically and horizontally in order to best get the electronic components inside.  A Dremel is best recommended for carving the cavities for the components.  However, I recommend if given the time to create a bigger shape than our payload along with cavities already drawn out on the program Solid Works.

The Amazing H.A.B. Group that made this project possible