Altus Metrum/ MicroPeak

Introducing MicroPeak by AltusMetrum

Micropeak is a barometric logging altimeter for precision model rocketry altitude measurements.

Data download is available using the MicroPeak USB adapter.

Documentation

The MicroPeak manual is available in html and pdf formats.

Software

The MicroPeak application runs on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. It communicates with the MicroPeak USB adapter to download and analyze flight data. It's written in Java and offers the same functionality and interface on all three platforms. It uses the FTDI USB Serial drivers to communicate with the hardware. If you're running Mac OS X or Windows, a compatible version of those drivers is included with the software. You can also install a different from from the FTDI Driver page.

MicroPeak is part of the larger AltOS suite of software, which also includes a dedicated TeleGPS application.

Available Versions

Release Notes for Version 1.9.19

Version 1.9.19

AltOS

  • Finish support for EasyMega V3.

AltosUI & TeleGPS application

  • Show device configuration information when graphing a flight.

Release Notes for Version 1.9.18

Version 1.9.18

AltOS

  • Add support for EasyTimer V2. The new version of this product has on-board storage to log data during flight.

AltosUI & TeleGPS application

  • Add support for EasyTimer V2. This includes support for analyizing flight data from the on-board logs.

  • Allow on-board beepers to be disabled by setting the frequency to 0.

Release Notes for Version 1.9.17

Version 1.9.17

AltOS

  • Fix TeleMini v3 Monitor Idle support

  • Support TeleMetrum v4.0 with uBlox-10 GPS module

  • Improve igniter reporting via the beeper.

AltosUI & TeleGPS application

  • Add support for EasyMini v3 Monitor Idle

Release Notes for Version 1.9.16

Version 1.9.16

AltOS

  • Add TeleGPS v3.0 support

AltosUI & TeleGPS application

  • Add TeleGPS v3.0 support

Release Notes for Version 1.9.15

Version 1.9.15

AltOS

  • Add TeleMega v6.0 support

  • Add TeleMetrum v4.0 support

  • Fix sign of IMU values for TeleMega v5 boards in the 'across' axis. This affects IMU acceleration and gyro reports for that axis, but has no effect on in-flight operation of the tilt computation.

Release Notes for Version 1.9.14

Version 1.9.14

AltOS

  • Fix 1.9.13 regression in TeleLCO startup sequence that detects available TeleFire units.

Release Notes for Version 1.9.13

Version 1.9.13

AltOS

  • Add option to beep max height in feet after landing

  • Fix APRS reports to be sent at the correct time and spacing.

  • Fix possible barometric sensor communication failure when the CPU is busy talking to the radio at the same time. This would cause loss of telemetry and failure to track the state of the rocket during flight. This was aggrevated by the APRS reports getting sent more often than they should.

  • Change EasyMotor v3 code to base logging on motor pressure rather than the accelerometer. This allows use of EasyMotor v3 in a static test stand.

AltosUI

  • Add support for configuring the units used to report height after landing on the beeper.

Release Notes for Version 1.9.12

Version 1.9.12

AltOS

  • Add EasyMini v3.0 and EasyMotor v3.0 support

  • Fix TeleMetrum v2.0 configuration. Saving config would crash the board.

AltosUI

  • Add EasyMotor log parsing and graphing.

Release Notes for Version 1.9.11

Version 1.9.11

AltOS

  • Make Apogee Delay work again.

  • Allow TX power to be limited to 10mW for compliance with some uses under UK regulations.

  • Fix numerous minor issues with 16- vs 32- bit time values.

AltosUI

  • Support M1-based Macs, follow AdoptOpenJDK to Adoptium

AltosDroid

  • Handle Bluetooth permissions reliably.

  • Fix some screen rotation bugs.

Release Notes for Version 1.9.10

Version 1.9.10

This release contains a couple of bug fixes for ground station software.

AltosUI

  • Rework the windows DLL build to make AltosUI run on more instances of Windows 10.

AltosDroid

  • Adapt to Android security changes which prevent AltosDroid from storing flights in /storage/emulated/0/AltusMetrum. Now, flights are stored in /storage/emulated/0/media/org.altusmetrum.AltosDroid/AltusMetrum instead. Also, AltosDroid will display an error message if flight data cannot be logged.

Hardware Features

  • Measure ground pressure and peak altitude pressure.
  • Logs 48 seconds of flight data
  • Orange LED blinks out maximum height in decimeters.
  • 18mm x 14mm. 1.9g including battery.
  • Power switch.

The CR1025 battery holder is mounted on the back side of the board, so there are no external wires or batteries to manage.

Software features

  • Saves last flight data to non-volatile memory.
  • Reports previous flight on power-on.
  • Automatically shuts down on landing to preserve battery.

Battery Holder

MicroPeak includes an integrated battery holder on the back side of the circuit board.

Developer View

Here's a close-up view of the hardware

  • Hardware Features

    • ATMEL ATtiny85 Microcontroller
      • 8K flash
      • 512B RAM
      • 512B EEPROM
      • SPI/I2C interface
    • Measurement Specialties MS5607 Micro Altimeter Module
      • Wide range — 120kPa to 1kPa (approximately -1500m to 31000m)
      • High precision — 2.4Pa resolution (approximately 20cm at sea level)
      • Factory calibrated.
    • CR1025 Lithium Battery
      • 30mAh. Runs MicroPeak for more than 40 hours on the pad or in flight
    • OSRAM LO T67K orange LED
    • Standard 6-pin AVR programming interface.

  • Software Features

    • Written in C
    • Samples pressure every 96ms
    • Delay 30s after power-on to finish airframe prep
    • Detect boost with 30m altitude change
    • Exponential averaging filter to minimize transient effects.

  • Tools Used

    • gEDA for schematic capture and PCB layout
    • GCC as an AVR cross-compiler

  • Licenses