Giving everyone the opportunity to explore space by putting a virtual reality camera on the International Space Station!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Tech Update VI: Stress Analysis
over 8 years ago
– Thu, Sep 24, 2015 at 07:26:58 PM
Ever wondered how a payload is designed to survive the stress of the launch? That’s where stress analysis comes in. During launch, the payload will be subjected to up to 6 g’s of acceleration (6 times the Earth’s gravitational pull) and extreme vibration. Analyzing all these stresses takes a lot of math, but it can be done to the first order with engineering softwares such as Autodesk Inventor. Autodesk simulation has been a pioneer in helping startups develop outstanding products for their customers and reinventing the future.
If all the forces, geometrical surfaces, and material properties are defined, the software can spit out accurate predictions of how the stresses and strains will play out on every point of the object. This information is represented on the computer screen in color contours, with the highest stresses/strains shown in red and the lowest in blue. Our stress analysis found that our custom-made heat resistant ULTEM 1010 camera housings can easily survive launch.
Tech updates will be released every 3 days. The next topic...NASA Requirements. You can ask other technical questions in the comments below and on Twitter using the hashtag #AskSpaceVR. View our mid campaign Q&A video at https://youtu.be/vAIGVWETPrE
Blaze Sanders
Tech Update V: LiFePO4 Batteries
over 8 years ago
– Mon, Sep 21, 2015 at 09:15:57 PM
You can ask technical questions in the comments below and on Twitter using the hashtag #AskSpaceVR, which we will answer in our mid campaign Tech Crunch 360 Camera Q&A Google Hangout 9/23 at 1 pm PT.
Many of you have asked what makes the Overview One space-tolerant, safe, and robust enough to fly to the International Space Station (ISS). Having the safest possible batteries is a key element in accomplishing that goal. Therefore we have replaced the LiMnNi batteries normally found in GoPro’s with Cell-Con LiFePO4 battery packs.
The key features present in LiFePO4 batteries include high cycle life times (in excess of 2000 recharges), non-explosive thermal runaway, greater chemical stability, and greater tolerance to temperature extremes. This means the Overview One can be recharged twice a day for 2.7 years, will not release dangerous chemicals into the ISS should the battery system fail, and will better survive the transition to operations outside of the ISS.
Making space hardware open source comes with many challenges and benefits as outlined by our friends at DIY Space Exploration and Mach 30. Making sure not to get arrested for International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) for US federal violations is key :)
That said, SpaceVR’s Overview One hardware will be posted on Mach 30’s Open Design Engine after the Kickstarter campaign. As a preview to that, you can view and comment on our Go Pro interface PCB, which connects 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 cameras together enabling synced content capture. To make the Overview One Go Pro interface PCB space tolerant, key manufacturing specs include using reduced tin whisker solder paste, Roger 4003 or Thermoset PCB material, ULTEM 1010 & ABS-ESD7 3D printed material and NASA outgas compliant via paste PHP-900 Series IR-10FE. Lets get to space as a community of artists, engineers, and explorers!
Tech updates will be released every 3 days. The next topic... Space Batteries. You can ask other technical questions in the comments below and on Twitter using the hashtag #AskSpaceVR, which we will answer in our mid campaign Tech Q&A Google Hangout 9/23 at 1 pm PST and our Reddit AMA 9/24 at noon PST.
Tech Update III: The ISS Data Bottleneck & Explore The Overview One
over 8 years ago
– Tue, Sep 15, 2015 at 09:25:34 PM
Figure 3: ISS Communications Links courtesy of NASA
For any space mission, data rates limit the amount of data that can be sent back to Earth in a timely fashion. Data rates are determined by the distance between the transmitter and receiver, antenna design and sizing, the frequencies and encoding used, as well as many other less significant factors. These factors are tabulated in a “link budget” which helps determine the data rates which a space mission is capable of. You can review the SpaceVR link budget for the Overview One Mark V HERE
The ISS talks to Earth at a few different data rates, limited mostly by the small size of its antennas and available electrical power. While sufficient for most communication, this is not so for the huge amounts of data needed to construct a 24K VR video. For this reason, we have chosen to save the Overview One’s raw video on SD cards which can be returned to Earth in a SpaceX Dragon capsule. The raw video can then be stitched into a VR video on the ground, allowing us to get around the ISS bottleneck. Lower resolution compressed data, on the other hand, is a different story (more on that in Tech Update VIII: 360 Stitching Software).
Tech updates will be released every 3 days. The next topic… Space Tolerant Open Source Space Hardware. You can ask other technical questions in the comments below and on Twitter using the hashtag #AskSpaceVR, which we will answer in our mid campaign Q&A video and Reddit AMA.
Eric Shear - Space Mission Designer
Explore the Overview One Camera
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