TY tom, after adding the word balloon to my search I started finding better phrases on forums and after several forum to search cycles i came acrost trackuino
im not sure yet if a digital signal can be created, however i am thinking that: with the trackuino build, the Adafruit SD shield, and some sparkfun components (that we are currently testing) along with vernier adapters to go from our preexisting labquest to a cheaper, through away system we will be able to replace almost 10 lbs of payload with under 5 as well as cutting the cost of the payload from several thousand to several hundred. If you want to be kept in the loop feel free to send me a PM and ill give you some contact info.
note: anybody with further tips, tricks or ideas please post. help is always welcome