Electronics and Software Development

KAICam App Update

2/3/12

Jamie has made several changes to the KAICam Android application, in support of the cruise with MBARI this week. To make the screen space on larger tablets more usable, the layout is now dynamically adjusted to maximize the preview image size.

To help in situations in which the network topology changes frequently, the app now automatically find other instances of itself that inhabit the same network. This way, the remote viewing client can connect to a camera server without being specially configured with the camera’s IP address in advance.

Other improvements include better networking efficiency and stability, and the continuous logging of GPS and air pressure (for altitude) where available.

The two images are screenshots of the app running on […more]

Kite Inflator Testing

2/3/12

A few weeks ago we did some testing of the kite inflation system with a new motor, electronics, and firmware. Everything has been looking good and we are looking forward to testing it on a boat or lifting kite soon.

In the attached plot, the green line indicates the target pressure, which is changed remotely using the web interface to cause the system to inflate and deflate the kite. The red line shows the measured air pressure. The measurement is somewhat noisier than the actual air pressure because the sensor is attached to the same tube as the in intake and outlet. The improved firmware filters this noise enough to keep the actual pressure within the kite quite stable.

Jan 31 – Lone Ranger update

1/31/12

Here’s the first photo update from Don on the Lone Ranger. He and Joe are on a 14-day voyage between Bermuda and the Bahamas to help scientists from the Schmidt Ocean Institute document the Sargassum population in that area. They took the aerial photos using GoPros and a Canon G12 on an inflatable rokkaku kite and an inflatable Fled. The camera rig shown is a gyro-stabilized mount that hangs from the kite bridle or kite line. In the photo it is holding the G12 and the Axis cam, but we can also use it with GoPros or other small or mid-sized cameras. The rows of Sargassum that are visible from the higher-up kite shots are called windrows. The SOI cruise […more]

Eye-Fi setup

1/24/12

The Eye-Fi SD card works with the CF card adapter in the 7D. With the metal parts of the adapter taken off, it works as well as does the Eye-Fi SD card on its own in the GoPro, which means it works from halfway across the shop, but not all the way across the shop. The card is rated to 45 ft from the router indoors and 90 ft from the router outdoors.

The above distances are using the KAI wi-fi. When I turned off wi-fi and used “Direct Mode,” the network was very unreliable and had to be restarted often. It did not appear to reach as far as the wi-fi. The furthest away I could get it to […more]

Electronic Kite Inflator

1/6/12

The electronic kite inflator, which we sometimes refer to as the kite Inflation Management System (IMS), is now ready for additional field testing. The device is designed to monitor and regulate the pressure of inflated kites. A Zigbee radio link is used to transmit pressure and status to the ground and to receive pressure setpoint commands. The inflator is integrated into the web-based logger interface, which allows us to monitor and control the kite pressure from any smartphone.

The latest version of the inflator uses a smaller and more robust PCB, and has a pressure release valve. Previously, the device could only inflate the kite, and had no way to release air if necessary. With the new release valve, the […more]

Logger Web Interface

1/6/12

We have made progress in creating a usable web interface to the kiteboat and Kite Assist logging systems. The basic idea is that the logger acts as a wireless router and web server. Any wifi-enabled device with a browser can connect to view the logger status, monitor the realtime data stream, and to send control commands to the device network.

Pictured are two Android mobile devices, which are connected to the kiteboat logger and showing realtime telemetry. The phone on the left is displaying the boat speed, line load, and kite inflation pressure. The larger tablet has a “kite” screen selected, which shows the current kite inflation pressure, the target inflation (with +/- pressure adjustment controls), and the battery voltage […more]

Kite Inflation Maintenance System

11/15/11

Jamie has augmented our kite inflation controller, which monitors a kite’s inflation levels and maintains a designated psi by inflating the kite further, in case of a leak or temperature change, for example. The new electronics add precise pressure measurement, a radio link to the ground, and remote pressure control. In the photos, the system is inflating a kite section to 8 psi. Our smaller kites take higher inflation pressures, up to 9 psi, whereas the larger kites take lower pressures, 2-3 psi. This system is splashproof, but not waterproof, which is sufficient now that our launch and retrieval procedures largely keep the kite out of the water.

The graph shows the pressure as the small kite section is inflated […more]