MicroPeak USB Interface
The MicroPeak USB Interface board provides a way to capture MicroPeak flight logs over a USB connection to a computer running Linux, Mac OS or Windows.
MicroPeak Data
- Stored in on-chip 512B eeprom
- Records raw barometer readings every 192ms
- Enough storage for 48 seconds
No changes are needed to the MicroPeak hardware, but new firmware that includes the data download feature is necessary to use the MicroPeak USB Interface.
MicroPeak Interface
MicroPeak transmits the entire flight log via the LED just after reporting the last flight altitude at power up. The data burst is transmitted in a simple serial format at 9600 baud.
The MicroPeak USB Interface board contains a phototransistor, op-amp and serial-to-USB interface chip. It also includes a blue LED which blinks in time with the MicroPeak orange LED. This makes aligning the two boards by hand quite easy.
Here's a picture of the device in operation, with MicroPeak positioned to transmit data. The blue LED on the interface board is visible through the smaller hole in the front of the box.
MicroPeak Application
The MicroPeak application written in Java runs on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. It captures and saves the flight data, then produces plots and statistics. More information is available on the main MicroPeak page.
Developer View
Here's a close-up view of the hardware
Hardware Features
- ROHM RPM-075PT Phototransistor
- Peak sensitivity matches MicroPeak LED color
- ST Micro TSV521 CMOS op-amp
- Low power
- FTDI FT230 Serial to USB adapter
- Drivers available for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.
- ROHM RPM-075PT Phototransistor
Tools Used
- gEDA for schematic capture and PCB layout
Licenses
- The hardware is licensed under the TAPR Open Hardware License
Upcoming MicroPeak USB version
History of the MicroPeak USB interface
