Open Source Altimeter

[lyosha 46]

I think an AAD is biting off a bit much for a first effort.

Anyone up for trying to make an open source altimeter? I would be very interested in joining forces with someone who has some experience with hardware design, as that is what I lack experience with.

[hackish 8]

I designed and built one that got integrated into an LCD jump light that showed the altitude and count-down on jump run. Ultimately it was too much trouble to get it approved to install on an airplane so it still sits on one of my tables under a pile of dust. It used that scp1000 sensor I mentioned in the other thread.

-Michael

[uer16 1]

Last year I made one with a 7-segment LED display, which, even though it was the brightest on the market, was too dim in the sun. And at 100mA current draw, the battery couldn't last a day.

I'm now interested in making one with a big 2.7" Sharp Memory display. Will work on the hardware over the next couple months, will let you know of the progress.

Software-wise, writing render code for the 400×240 (or any other really) display would be a first for me, so help would definitely be appreciated.

I'll put all the stuff in a bitbucket repo and link it later here.

[fluffyduckie 6]

Talk to Erin Franke from Elemental. This is right up their alley and something they are actively working on.

"I love when humans fly,"

[acho 0]

lyosha

I think an AAD is biting off a bit much for a first effort.

Anyone up for trying to make an open source altimeter? I would be very interested in joining forces with someone who has some experience with hardware design, as that is what I lack experience with.

while I was recovering from ankle surgery I got bored and did project like this so if you are interested send me PM ;)

[lyosha 46]

fluffyduckie

Talk to Erin Franke from Elemental. This is right up their alley and something they are actively working on.

They're trying to make money off of it. I'm afraid that if they're trying to make money off of it, they would be unwilling to cooperate. :-/

[uer16 1]

After some time on/off working on this I think it might be almost ready for public consumption. I called it OpenSky
Hardware: https://bitbucket.org/i2barano/opensky_hw
Software: https://bitbucket.org/i2barano/opensky_fw
Writeup (mostly manufacturing): https://sites.google.com/site/ivanbaranov/openskyaltimeter

Some specs:

• Very large 33x22mm display
• Long battery life, ~300hrs (37 8-hour jumping days)
• Rechargeable from micro-USB
• -10C to 60C operation
• 56.5x44x12.2 mm size

I've been jumping the design for a bit more than a year now, and feel confident in its' reliability, and also got good feedback from people checking it out.

Overall it's designed to be a very simple no-bullshit altimeter with a huge screen and good battery life. It doesn't have fancy features like commercial altimeters, but I felt that adding those would move resources away from reliability engineering.

I will be finalizing firmware development and testing, after that is done, I may be selling first small batch at cost for people to use/test-jump. If anyone is interested PM me so I can gauge interest and know how much effort to put into this. Also please PM if you want to contribute, I'm mainly looking for people to do design review.

[IanHarrop 37]

I really enjoyed the blog, thanks for that. Very interesting project.

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[lyosha 46]

uer16

After some time on/off working on this I think it might be almost ready for public consumption. I called it OpenSky
Hardware: https://bitbucket.org/i2barano/opensky_hw
Software: https://bitbucket.org/i2barano/opensky_fw
Writeup (mostly manufacturing): https://sites.google.com/site/ivanbaranov/openskyaltimeter

Some specs:

• Very large 33x22mm display
• Long battery life, ~300hrs (37 8-hour jumping days)
• Rechargeable from micro-USB
• -10C to 60C operation
• 56.5x44x12.2 mm size

I've been jumping the design for a bit more than a year now, and feel confident in its' reliability, and also got good feedback from people checking it out.

Overall it's designed to be a very simple no-bullshit altimeter with a huge screen and good battery life. It doesn't have fancy features like commercial altimeters, but I felt that adding those would move resources away from reliability engineering.

I will be finalizing firmware development and testing, after that is done, I may be selling first small batch at cost for people to use/test-jump. If anyone is interested PM me so I can gauge interest and know how much effort to put into this. Also please PM if you want to contribute, I'm mainly looking for people to do design review.

Cool stuff!