Industry: Education & Research
Smart Bird Boxes for Remote Wildlife Monitoring
Okala’s conservation scientists and software engineers use a combination of methodologies, including camera traps, bioacoustics, and remote sensing, to assess biodiversity and monitor environmental impact. They effectively leverage AI and machine learning for data analysis, offering expert-verified insights and a dashboard for visualizing and understanding nature data.
Known for delivering scalable, science-driven nature monitoring and compliance solutions, Okala partnered with Ground Control to create a new kind of remote sensing device – a smart birdbox equipped with a camera, digital scales and satellite connectivity that can be deployed in any environment, to track and monitor birdlife.
This marked the beginning of Project Pyedwagtail. The mission? Build a rugged, low-power system capable of collecting and transmitting wildlife data from anywhere in the world, even the most remote and inaccessible regions.
The challenge set by Robin, CEO of Okala, was deceptively simple: “We need a smart bird box with a camera that we can deploy anywhere.”
However, delivering on that vision required a blend of hardware innovation, software efficiency, and robust, reliable connectivity. The system needed to detect when a bird was present, or absent, inside the birdbox; capture images automatically, record temperature readings both inside and outside the box, and transmit all of the data to Okala’s conservation management platform. It had to be low power, compact and resilient, function entirely off-grid, and communicate via satellite from any location on Earth.
The Challenge Takes Flight
The Okala smart birdbox solution is built around four key stages: sensing, imaging, satellite transmission, and cloud integration. At the core of the sensing solution is a simple but effective digital scale mounted inside the birdbox, which communicates with a Raspberry Pi via the I²C interface. This setup enables the system to detect when a bird enters the box, monitors changes in weight over time, identifies how many birds are present, tracks egg-laying events, and even determines when chicks fledge. These weight changes also trigger automatic photo captures. While the Ground Control team could have implemented a more complex machine learning model, we opted for a simple, reliable mechanism for minimum power consumption and complexity.
To capture images, we utilized a Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 and the libcamera library. Each triggers a photograph, saved as a JPEG file. However, since the size of JPEG files can vary dramatically based on image complexity, such as a blue sky versus the intricate details of a bird’s feathers, Ground Control developed a smart resize function. This function compresses images intelligently, optimizing file size for efficient satellite transmission without compromising essential visual detail. The next challenge is transmitting the data back to Okala.
See This Explained Live
RockBLOCK 9704
For this project, reliable, global satellite connectivity is achieved via RockBLOCK 9704, a compact satellite modem that utilizes the Iridium global satellite network, and Iridium’s IMT (Iridium Messaging Transport) service. IMT enables the system to send and receive messages of up to 100Kb, with very low latency, from anywhere in the world.
RockBLOCK 9704 operates with very low power requirements, consuming less than 5 mW in sleep mode and peaking at 1.4 W during transmission. RockBLOCK’s Python and C libraries made integration incredibly simple, with only a few lines of code required to send data.
Of course, the satellite module is only one piece of the puzzle. Once the data is returned from the satellite, it needs to be routed securely and reliably to Okala’s system. This is where Ground Control’s Cloudloop Data platform plays a critical role.
Cloudloop Data
Rather than requiring custom code to decode device messages, Cloudloop Data takes care of the translation and seamlessly delivers the data to Okala, whether via MQTT, HTTPS, AWS, Azure, or other services. It’s built to ensure data reaches its destination in the correct format, no matter the protocol – SBD or IMT. By handling the complexity of proprietary device communication, Cloudloop accelerates integration and significantly reduces development time. Even if Okala’s servers are temporarily offline, Cloudloop securely stores all incoming data to guarantee nothing is lost. The platform also supports devices from other manufacturers, making it highly adaptable for diverse IoT applications.
And the cost of the project? The total system was surprisingly cost-effective. The RockBLOCK 9704 module costs $279 and operates on either prepaid plans starting from $0.29 per KB, or post-pay contract plans which are even lower cost. Given the power of the technology and the low cost of deployment, it represents an accessible, scalable solution for conservation projects of any size.
Beyond The Birdbox
By combining Okala’s expertise in AI-powered conservation platforms with Ground Control’s proven track record in global satellite IoT, Project Pyedwagtail has demonstrated what’s possible in smart, remote wildlife monitoring.
The result is a simple but robust system that can send photographs, environmental data, and near-real time alerts from any location on Earth, with nothing more than a Raspberry Pi, a few sensors, a RockBLOCK 9704 module, and some participating wildlife.
While the project started with the concept of a smart birdbox, the implications are further reaching. The combination of camera traps, intelligent sensing, and global satellite connectivity has applications across wildlife monitoring, ecological research, remote surveillance, and even anti-poaching operations.
This ability to gather visual and environmental data in near real time from remote locations opens new possibilities for field researchers, conservationists, and environmental organizations worldwide.
We’re Here to Help
If you need to transmit sensor data from remote environments, whether it’s wildlife activity, environmental metrics, or atmospheric readings, we’re here to help. At Ground Control, we specialize in connecting devices and assets in the most inaccessible locations, far beyond the reach of traditional cellular networks.
By leveraging multiple satellite networks and communication protocols, we deliver cost-effective, reliable solutions tailored to your needs. Get in touch with us at hello@groundcontrol.com or fill out the form. We’ll get back to you within one working day.
Smart Satellite Buoys Reducing Ghost Gear and Protecting Oceans
Founded in 2015, Blue Ocean Gear set out to solve a challenge for fishermen: around 10% of fishing gear is lost annually in many fisheries, estimated in 2019 to weigh about 640,000 tonnes. This has two serious impacts: the first is the economic penalty; crab traps, for example, can cost $1,000 – $2,000 each, and are often lashed together in strings of 40 or more traps; losing these traps could cost some fishermen their livelihoods.
The second is the environmental impact. The lost fishing gear continues to fish, while never harvested; it attracts females and juveniles, and off-target species, all of which die in the trap, attracting more species to become captured, and more wasteful fish deaths. There’s also the potential for gear to entangle birds, turtles, whales and dolphins; a 2020 report from the World Wildlife Fund notes that abandoned and lost fishing gear threatens around two thirds of marine animals, including all sea turtle species and half of seabirds.
Blue Ocean Gear developed a data buoy which acts like a sort of maritime air tag; fully waterproof and depth-rated, it’s easily attached to fishing gear, and its internal sensors track its location, movement and depth.
The combination of these sensors tells fishermen whether the gear is entangled or being dragged by a boat, for example; or if it’s vanished underwater due to currents, the buoys can alert the fishermen when it surfaces so they can retrieve it and harvest the catch, saving them valuable time and fuel on the water.
The buoys also help detect and prevent poaching, with a sensor sending an alert to a connected app to tell the owner of the gear when it’s in or out of the water; if it’s unexpectedly out of the water, that’s a good indication that the catch is being poached.
Blue Ocean Gear worked, and continues to work, very closely with fishermen to deliver a device that meets all of their needs: all of the electronics are protected internally; there’s no on/off switch; it’s extremely robust, and can withstand extreme weather conditions. On the software side of things, the fishermen can decide for themselves how frequently they need which data sets, again using the app.
The buoys can communicate to a similar device on the vessel via radio link, but for fixed gear such as traps, most of the time the fishing vessel is not nearby, and that’s where Ground Control comes in.
Ground Control delivers satellite IoT connectivity, connecting very remote things, and has worked with Blue Ocean Gear since their pilot phase to ensure that they, and their connected customers, can retrieve their data in real time from any location on Earth.
The buoys utilize Iridium Short Burst Data, which sends data in small packets; this is an extremely efficient way to utilize satellite communication, making it cost effective and power economical, while still delivering the close-to-real time, truly global, two way communication that Blue Ocean Gear’s customers need.
Although fishermen remain central to Blue Ocean Gear’s work, their ability to collect ocean data hasn’t gone unnoticed by the scientific and research communities, and they’ve expanded their capabilities to meet the needs of scientists and offshore wind developers, for example. In addition to the temperature measurements available now, in Q1 2026, they’re adding air pressure and wave data sensors to the buoys, which substantially grows the number of applications for which they can be used.
“For our customers, having data all the time is key, whether they’re working in the Arctic, Antarctic or anywhere in between. Ground Control’s connectivity has been extremely reliable, and it was very easy to integrate with our systems. Cloudloop gives us the cost monitoring and API access we need for billing, and the support has been just wonderful throughout the many years we’ve worked together.”
Kortney Opshaug, CEO, Blue Ocean Gear
Beyond asset tracking and fishing, Blue Ocean Gear’s applications are growing rapidly, with huge potential for deployment across many different ocean industries. Collecting data from the ocean has traditionally been hard, expensive and complex; together, Blue Ocean Gear and Ground Control are helping to bridge that gap, delivering more data points in an easy, accessible and low cost way.
Let’s Connect Your Next Ocean Project
Projects like Blue Ocean Gear show what’s possible when rugged hardware, smart software and always-on connectivity come together. At Ground Control, we help organizations turn ambitious ideas into dependable, real world solutions, from tracking critical assets at sea to unlocking hard to reach environmental data.
If you’re working on an oceans, environmental monitoring or remote IoT initiative and need a connectivity partner who understands the challenges off the edge of the map, we’d love to talk. Fill in the form, or email hello@groundcontrol.com, and a member of our team will help you explore the best options for your project.
BGAN M2M’s Role in Soil Moisture Monitoring to Help Combat Climate Change
The Sourhope site on the Scottish border is one of 47 COSMOS-UK’s soil moisture monitoring stations that deliver near-real-time soil moisture data for use in farming, water resources, flood forecasting and land-surface modelling. Sites are also equipped with IP cameras for image transmission. COSMOS-UK was established by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in 2013 and is now the UK’s long-term national soil moisture monitoring programme. The COSMOS-UK data informs scientists about soil-water changes and supports environmental modelling research and related applications.
The Project
Ongoing climate change and increasing air pollution are likely to cause substantial changes in our ecosystem. To predict, manage and minimize adverse impacts on biodiversity, it’s critical that these changes are accurately, efficiently and reliably monitored so policy and management techniques can be developed.
The greater our understanding of soil moisture, the better we are able to recognize plants that are suited to particular conditions, the availability of water to maintain surface waters, and the impact soil moisture can have on our weather. This becomes more interesting and useful when we want to recognise the impacts of modifying and exploiting our environment.
Why Soil Moisture Matters
As well as optimum vegetation and crop management, measuring soil moisture also helps to inform our understanding of how the natural environment responds to climate change.
The impact of climate change could affect the water availability for agriculture, domestic consumption and the overall environment. Thus, measuring soil moisture and developing knowledge of how it varies between places and through time is fundamental to gaining insight into likely future conditions.
The Satellite Solution
The COSMOS-UK Sourhope site is located in a remote area of rough Scottish grassland, about 1 km from the border with England. This station, along with others in the COSMOS-UK network, is out of reach of cellular and fiber networks.
The Hughes 9502 is a IoT Pro (previously known as BGAN M2M) terminal, a satellite-based solution for transmitting remote environmental monitoring data. Powered by solar energy and designed to operate on both Viasat IoT Pro and cellular 2G/3G/LTE networks, it delivers always-available connectivity for critical monitoring and control applications in remote locations, perfect for the grassland site at Sourhope.
Instrumentation at the COSMOS-UK Sourhope site captures soil moisture sensor data from over almost 40 hectares (about 100 acres) at any one time and delivers the data to data centres in near real-time, 24/7, 365 days a year. This contrasts favourably with other sensor solutions, such as a soil probe, which are considered more intrusive, and provide only single point-measurements, or require an on-site operative to conduct ‘point in time’ measurements.
Viasat’s IoT Pro service provides a reliable, global, two way IP data service. It is the ideal solution as it connects monitoring and control applications in remote, unmanned locations, providing visibility and management of those assets – including high quality camera images.
“The Hughes 9502 and IoT Pro (BGAN M2M) service have been incredibly reliable; we’ve had no outages or delays since beginning use, and costs have remained predictable.”
UKCEH COSMOS-UK Project Manager
2023 and Beyond
The soil moisture data intelligence delivered by the Hughes 9502 to agricultural and environmental scientists has the potential to transform the way we understand and model the natural environment.
All data collected by the Hughes IoT Pro terminal from Sourhope, and other COSMOS-UK sites, are available free to the scientific community and the general public.
Would you like to know more?
With over 20 years of satellite experience, the Ground Control team is well placed to help keep you connected when it matters the most.
Whatever your communication or connectivity needs, we can help. Talk to one of our team to discover our products and services and how they can benefit, improve and streamline your applications.
Epsom College are competing in The Microtransat challenge and are trying to build a robot boat that can sail from England to America autonomously.
It has been attempted approximately 25 times by Universities, Businesses and Individuals; however, it has never been completed.
Ground Control’s RockBLOCK 9602 is being used to send back telemetry data from anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Every hour it provides Latitude, Longitude, Battery Voltages, Temperatures inside the electronics bays and sends a ‘Mayday’ if water is detected in the hull. Each update is forwarded to a PHP script that easily stores the information in a SQL database, updates Twitter, and places a marker on a rolling map on their website.
The Challenge Ahead
The Microtransat Challenge was launched in 2005 to stimulate the development of fully autonomous model sailing boats capable of crossing the Atlantic in an east-west or west-east direction. To date, none of the 12 Microtransat attempts has been successful. In July 2016 the Epsom College team aimed be the first to succeed where many have failed.
The boat is a GRP hull based on a J-Class racer. We own the mould and so can try again if this boat fails. It is 1.8M long, and weighs 10-15kg depending on its ballast. The ship uses a student programmed navigation system that uses GPS and a magnetic digital compass. The boat updates its location using the Iridium Satellite Network and a Ground Control RockBLOCK 9602 board. In the first week it will update every hour, then drop back to every six hours.
Our server runs scripts that save key data in a database, uploads to Twitter and Emails the competition organizers.
The History
Accompanied by Head of Chemistry, Jamie Styles, and Head of Physics, Chris Telfer, 6th formers Tim Lazarus, Tom Egan, Charlie Steward, Jamie Gleave and Aiden Findlay left Torquay Marina at 10.00am aboard the Royal Navy vessels HMS Exploit and HMS Pursuer and were ferried to the selected launch point 30km off the south-west coast of England.En route to the launch, the College team witnessed a real life rescue as a Navy destroyer, HMS Dragon, and a coastguard helicopter provided assistance to a medical emergency aboard a pleasure yacht.
With a flat sea and the temperature hitting 26˚C, The Microtransat Challenge officially started on 5th July 2016 10.53am. Nerves were jangling as the boat headed the wrong way but it quickly pointed its bow in the right direction towards the Atlantic.
Initially, the tracking system appeared not to be working as it placed the boat somewhere near Paris but a small tweak to some of the land-based software quickly fixed the error.
As a final test before being left to the journey, the boat had to endure the swell of HMS Dragon as the destroyer made multiple passes to allow its crew to watch the launch.
After seeing the boat off, the team made the return trip to Torquay during which they were delighted to be flanked by a pod of breaching dolphins.
The Goal
The College team is aiming to be the first to successfully complete The Microtransat Challenge, which was launched in 2005 to stimulate the development of fully autonomous model sailing boats capable of crossing the Atlantic in an east-west or west-east direction.
Bringing together students and staff from the Mathematics, Geography, Chemistry, Physics and Computing Departments, the team have been working on the design of their boat since September 2015 as part of a student-led STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) project.
Proud to Support Educators
Learning doesn’t happen just in a classroom and at Ground Control we work very closely with Educators and Researchers alike to ensure there is no limit to their projects.
If you’d like to learn more or have a project coming up that you need satellite connectivity for, simply get in touch and one of our expert team will help.
Oshen, a Plymouth, UK-based company, specializes in developing one meter long ocean robots designed for weather and environmental monitoring.
These robots, engineered to function as adaptable buoys, provide vital data from the sea over extended periods, enabling transformative advancements in oceanographic research and forecasting.
The Challenge
For Oshen’s ocean robots to operate effectively, they require robust, low power satellite communication to ensure seamless data transfer and remote control, especially in areas beyond cellular coverage.
The ability to access real time sensor readings and monitor device performance without manual intervention is critical for maintaining operational efficiency and delivering actionable insights.
The Solution
Oshen partnered with Ground Control to integrate Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) technology into their ocean robots. Our satellite communication solutions provide reliable, low-power connectivity, enabling Oshen to collect mission-critical data and remotely monitor the robots’ performance in real time.
The RockBLOCK 9603 satellite module, tailored for low power devices, has been seamlessly incorporated into Oshen’s system, ensuring efficient operation even in challenging marine environments.
“Ground Control’s support has been invaluable in getting the data moved by the RockBLOCK 9603 modules to work with an easy-to-use dashboard.”
Marcus Thorpe, Robotics Engineer, Oshen
The Results
Oshen has achieved remarkable milestones with its satellite IoT-enabled ocean robots.
- Storm Navigation Success: One of Oshen’s ocean robots successfully navigated through a severe storm, demonstrating the reliability and resilience of its systems under extreme conditions
- Enhanced Forecasting Collaboration: Oshen is working with the Met Office to explore how its data can enhance weather forecasting, potentially revolutionizing the accuracy of marine and atmospheric predictions
- Marine Wildlife Monitoring: In partnership with a leading U.S.-based ocean research institute, Oshen is contributing to dolphin and whale monitoring projects, expanding its role in advancing marine conservation efforts.
Oshen’s innovative approach to ocean data collection, combined with Ground Control’s reliable satellite IoT solutions, is driving significant advancements in marine research and environmental monitoring. By overcoming the challenges of remote communication, Oshen continues to unlock new possibilities for oceanographic exploration and sustainability.
Can Satellite IoT Enhance Your Operations?
We design and build our satellite IoT hardware in the UK and USA, in addition to a suite of software services designed to help you get the most out of your data.
We are experts at retrieving data from remote locations reliably, cost-effectively, and quickly. Email hello@groundcontrol.com to speak with one of our technical team, or complete the form.
CATS – Customized Animal Tracking Solutions – supplies three key products to support conservationists, scientists, filmmakers and engineers monitor primarily marine animals. CATS Diary is their multi-sensor solution – a ‘fitbit’ for animals in effect. The CATS Cam is a high-resolution, multi-sensor recorder, controlled by a CATS Diary, and available as a 2K or 4K version. CATS Iridium is used either as a solar powered long-term tracking device with GPS, or as a recovery beacon to relocate CATS Diaries or Cams after they release from the animals.
CATS Iridium utilizes the Iridium 9603N modem to deliver global, real-time, reliable coverage. Users can remotely reprogram settings if needed; a valuable feature as these animals are often very far away from human settlements. Sensor data captured and transmitted via the Iridium satellite constellation include dive and activity data, and GPS locations.
CATS designs and builds its own hardware in-house, and has extensive customization options. Founded by avid animal conservationists, they have been a trusted animal tracking equipment provider since 2012.
Tracking Glacier Melt on Everest: Satellite IoT in the Western Cwm
At over 6,500 meters above sea level, in the Western Cwm of Mount Everest, a team of glaciologists is gathering climate-critical data from one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Their aim is to better understand the controls of ice temperatures at high elevation, where observations are few and far between. Working on the Khumbu Glacier, their findings promise to improve forecasts of ice recession and water availability for millions of people living across the Himalayas.
Working in partnership with scientists from the University of Leeds and Aberystwyth University, Ground Control provided a satellite communications system capable of transmitting data daily from Everest’s icy slopes, without requiring a single visit back to the deployment site
The Challenge
The Khumbu Glacier has long been a focus of glaciological research, not least because of its accessibility from Everest Base Camp. But this latest project, funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, sought to go deeper. By drilling into the glacier at over 6,500 meters elevation, the research team aimed to directly measure:
- Ice temperature at different depths
- Snow depth, accumulation, and compaction
- Meteorological conditions, including temperature, humidity, and solar radiation.
Collecting this data was only half the challenge. Getting it off the glacier and into the hands of researchers in close to real time, without physically retrieving the equipment, was critical for both data continuity and team safety.
Connecting the Glacier
To enable this, Ground Control supported the integration of the RockREMOTE Mini satellite transceiver with Campbell Scientific CR1000X dataloggers at two drill sites and a weather station.
RockREMOTE Mini supports both IP and message-based communication over the Iridium Certus 100 network, for efficient, flexible, low power transmissions.
In addition to sending regular data packets, the system also allows researchers to remotely log in to the data logger via Satellite IP, offering full access for reconfiguration or troubleshooting without a site visit.
Early stage troubleshooting was also supported by Ground Control to ensure robust communications before the kit was taken into the field.
“We planned, tested, and validated the integration between the CR1000X and the RockREMOTE Mini. We created a sample CRBasic program that demonstrated how to control the RockREMOTE Mini from the logger, send data, and allow remote access, all of which the team could adapt for their own setup.”
Michael Mitrev, Solutions Architect, Ground Control
Outcome: Real Time Data from Everest
During operation, the satellite-enabled system transmitted data reliably from the Khumbu Glacier’s drill sites and weather station. Despite sub-zero temperatures and remote conditions, the RockREMOTE Mini operated autonomously, sending back environmental data that has helped scientists monitor how the glacier responds to changes both in short term weather and long term climate, improving forecasts of ice recession for the wider region.
The data are expected to contribute to a growing understanding of:
- The characteristics of high altitude ice masses
- Seasonal and long-term glacier melt patterns
- Future threats to communities relying on Himalayan glacial water.
“The ability to be able to observe the glacier in near real-time, without having to visit the field site, has revolutionised the way we conduct our research. For the first time we can analyse and interpret the data as soon as we have installed the equipment, rather than waiting 12 months or more until a team can recover the loggers.”
Duncan Quincey, Professor of Glaciology, University of Leeds
Why Satellite IoT?
Traditional communication systems are unworkable on the snowfields and glaciers of the Everest region. There is no cellular coverage, and even high frequency radio is unreliable in mountainous terrain. Satellite IoT provides a uniquely resilient option for projects like this, offering:
- Global coverage, even in the highest and most remote parts of the world
- Low power operation, ideal for battery or solar-powered deployments
- Two way communication, enabling both data transmission and remote access
- Scalability, from a single sensor node to multi-site sensor networks.
For glaciologists, and for environmental science more broadly, satellite IoT is opening up new possibilities for data collection in places where previously, researchers had to choose between scientific insight and personal risk.
Bring Your Data Home From Anywhere
Want to monitor assets or environments in places where cellular and radio can’t reach?
Ground Control helps teams deploy low power satellite IoT that sends data reliably, and supports remote configuration without repeat site visits.
Tell us about your project and we’ll recommend the right connectivity and integration approach. Either complete the form, or email hello@groundcontrol.com, and we’ll be in touch within one working day.
Madcap Project – LOHAN
LOHAN is a madcap project involving using a high altitude balloon to launch a glider to the edge of space then have it released from the balloon and navigate itself down to a designated landing spot.
The team needed a way to communicate if/when the LOHAN travelled out of GPRS coverage. Additionally the authorities required an emergency balloon cut-down in the event that LOHAN wandered off course.
Enter RockBLOCK 9602. As well as transmitting GPS data when the unit was out of range of standard mobile networks, the RockBLOCK was also used to receive commands from the ground. If they wished to abort the mission, a message sent to the RockBLOCK using our API, would be received on-board the spacecraft and activate the self-destruct mechanism.
LOHAN Components
- RockBLOCK 9602 naked unit
- Arduino Mini Pro 3.3V 8MHz
- 5V regulator
- AAA battery holder
- Four Energizer lithium AAAs
- MOSFET to fire the release
- Cable with JST connector to connect to cut-down
- The LOHAN Spacecraft
The Challenge
The team plan to launch a rocket-powered Vulture 2 spaceplane from under a helium balloon and ask it to guide itself back to terra firma using an onboard autopilot system. This is commonly known as a ‘rockoon’ concept, or ‘ballocket’, and it presents a few serious technical challenges – not least how to launch the aircraft. As meteorological balloons can get really, really big at altitude, any launch plan needs to balance offering the vehicle the chance to get to maximum altitude while avoiding an enormous latex sphere.
Several had the idea of using multiple balloons, but the team ruled against this, the logic being, it multiplies the diameter problem and doesn’t really offer an advantage in terms of maximum attainable altitude. Afterall, all balloons would burst at around the same height, and it’s likely the first explosion would trigger multiple bangs.
Instead the team’s research brought them back to the 1980s – John Guest was involved in a rockoon project aiming to put a 1-gram payload into orbit. Unfortunately, as a result of the estimated $50K cost, this project came to nothing, evidently though some real thought was given to the matter. Guest wrote: “Launch before balloon burst. Much better platform stability. Once burst occurs, you don’t know what your craft attitude is going to be. You won’t make orbit (and I don’t think you want to, really). However, a launch attitude of 45 degrees would both maximize downrange distance and altitude.”
This echoed the team’s experiences with rockoons launched vertically which have sacrificed the balloon; disregarded due to the potential damage to the aircraft. Instead the team plan on trying the suggested spaceplane launch angle of 45 degrees.
The Initial Spec
Based on the Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) concept of having the aircraft attached to a main payload box:
- Single helium balloon, lift capability 1,000 feet per minute
- Main payload box with onboard video and stills cameras
- Main payload to contain both a) launch trigger electronics and b) Vulture 2 onboard systems enabling electronics
- Launch of Vulture 2 programmed for before balloon burst
- Main payload to descend by rocket recovery parachute
- Main payload recovery systems to include GPS radio beacon.
In summary, the main payload electronics will enable the Vulture 2 onboard cameras and autopilot, and then fire the rocket motor at a predetermined altitude. The aircraft will fly at an angle of 45° from some form of launch platform, the design of which should run in tandem with the Vulture 2 development.
We wish the team all the best with launch and future projects!
Built with Ground Control
The work we support genuinely inspires us, and we’re proud to be a part of the innovative solutions created by our partners and customers.
If you’d like to get in touch with the team either to discuss a challenge similar to that of the one above, or something completely different our team of experts will be happy to provide objective advice.
Kraken Project and the RockBLOCK
‘Kraken’ is a project by Sutton Grammar School, and this case study is written by them. The main concept behind the buoy is its primary use as an oil response system. The system is based around an oil response unit that aims to make it easier for oil companies to clean up spills quickly and effectively.
It consists of a series of buoys that cooperate to give an image of the spread of oil by using sophisticated GPS and radio technology. Using this, companies can get a picture of where oil has and will spread and then clean up spills as fast as possible.
RockBLOCK 9602 is used to transmit the GPS position and other collected data back to a central management system to allow monitoring of the situation in near real-time.
Components of the Kraken Buoy:
- Arduino Atmega328 controller
- uBlock Max 6Q
- Inertial and Temp Sensors
- RockBLOCK 9602 naked unit.
GPS – U-blox Max 6Q
These determine the location of each buoy as a latitude and longitude, and provide accurate synchronised timekeeping (GPS time) for all buoys. GPS modules communicate with the Arduino via the UBX binary protocol over a serial RS232 interface and use Sarantel SL1202 (now discontinued) antennae. The modules have been optimized for 2-D ocean use in power-saving mode (positional fix every five minutes). The team used these receivers partly because they’re very small (so will fit into the ‘nymphs’) can be put into low power mode to extend the battery life of the buoys while at sea.
Hope Microelectronics RFM22B Transceiver
[Short Range Radios]
These are low-power boards used for short range communications (sending GPS data) between buoys in the Poseidon network. The team used this open source Arduino library for easy communication between the Arduino and radio modules. Packets of data are automatically encoded and decoded, further simplifying the Arduino programming.
Arduino Atmega328
This microprocessor chip is used by the Arduino Uno board (but is in surface mount form on our buoys). They are programmed in C with the Arduino IDE version 1.0.1 and coordinate the behaviour of each buoy, decoding and relaying data from various components, e.g. the GPS receivers or the IMU out to the RockBLOCK radio.
Buoy Network Concept
The students aimed to fully utilize the benefits of an entire network of buoys by allowing the ‘nymphs’ to relay each other’s transmissions to the ‘Kraken’, in case some drift out of range of the RFM22B radios. Each nymph broadcasts the GPS data it has stored in its memory to all other buoys, which receive and store this data in their own memories. This means that each time a buoy transmits its memory contents, it is transmitting GPS data on behalf of all the other buoys (not just its own location).
So if a buoy moves out of range of the ‘Kraken’, its data will still reach the Kraken providing that other nymphs are still in range to act as relays. The Kraken collects all these data transmissions to send back to the team via the Iridium constellation, enabling them to track the location of each buoy in the network whilst using only one RockBLOCK radio.
Kraken Buoy Features
- Iridium Satellite Constellation: The team use this satellite network to relay data from the buoys (wherever they are in the world) back to project HQ. The RockBLOCK radio sends data to a passing satellite. The satellite relays this data to a ground station that then emails it to the team. This includes GPS readings to update their live map.
- Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU): The IMU is sampled at 10Hz and data is transmitted back to the team to analyse.
- Additional Sensors: The buoy also contains an onboard battery voltage monitor, so they know how much longer the batteries will last. Internal temperature sensor (located near the edge of the buoy to be as close as possible to the outside water temperature). Connected to the Arduino via a one wire interface.
Supporting Educators
The work we support genuinely inspires us, and we’re proud to support educators bringing learning to life.
If you’d like to get in touch with the team either to discuss an opportunity or project similar to that of the one above, or something completely different our team of experts will be happy to provide objective advice.