Daz1712:
Hi all,
Been a while since i looked at this thread and reading through it thought i would put in a bit.At this stage i think proof of consept would be the way to go as you will have to scramble to get a working prototype, based on your posts.
Thought Of The Day, from my grade school teacher. She had us write exact instructions out for someone else to tie a shoe lace up.
Sooooo easy right!
Out of a class of 20, the closes was me (Im so good!)
Untill it was pointed out that i had not told the person to put the shoe on.So lets do a simulation of your project based on what you have writen and imagine im the Arduino.
Rules to follow:
1/ monitor altitude and if it decreases suddenly = deploy parachute.
2/ if acceleration towards ground increases = deploy parachute.So i am put on a helecopter in a box with a preasure guage and a directional acceleration meter to watch and a big red button marked DEPLOY SHUTE!
So with no contact with the pilot and not able to know if the engines are on or off i must base my decision on when to deploy the chute.
I know my start altitude(preassure) as that is measured when i get in and turn on the power.
I can see if we decend rapidly by the preasure and directional acceleration meter so we are all good yeah?Lets look at some senarios,
A. A bird flies toward the craft so the pilot drops the craft to go under it.
I See, sudden increase in altitude and increase in downward speed. Push the button!B. The craft hits an airpocket and drops suddenly so the pilot increases the revs to over come this.
I See, sudden drop in pressure (a big one as its an airpocket) and a downward increase in speed. Push the button? :oC. The crafts engines quit and we begin to fall but as its top heavy it flips over and falls (watched a drone vid and it did this).
I See, sudden increase in pressure and a breif acceleration downward but then we start going up even if the pressure is increasing. Whee where good! no need to deploy the chute.Thats just three examples of what could happen if the information fed to the Arduino is minimal.
So hopefully you see how far you have come and how much further you have to go. :oDaz.
P.s. try the shoelace thing with some one, its a real laugh watching someone else's idea of what you wrote being put into practice and seeing how wrong you got it then realising that what you had in your head was not what everyone else was seeing.
Hi Daz1712, sorry for taking so long to get back to you. Thanks for your insightful input.
I've downgraded my project from a working model to a proof of concept as I've realised I put too much on my plate from making a functional parachute along with a method of deployment through coding and I've just now decided to focus on the coding side of the project and market it as the main design of my design project.
With your scenarios, are you suggesting I do a push-to-release mechanism instead of an altitude measuring one? I'm not too sure with what you mean by pushing the button (to release parachute or temporarily disable sensor)?
Anyhow, thanks a lot for your input. I'll make sure you incorporate your reply into my portfolio.