OpenStratos

Balloon control software implemented in C++14. It will be in charge of the management of the balloon and will communicate via SMS to the provided phone. It will initialize all needed components, track and log position and software messages, detect launch, burst and landing and send the landing position via SMS.

Requirements

The software needs a working installation of WiringPi and a RaspiCam for the tests. It will perform some basic tests if no Raspberry Pi is being used. It works with Adafruit Fona module, even though it should work with other GSM modules. It also uses the Adafruit Ultimate GPS module. The following software is needed to compile OpenStratos (apart from the WiringPi library):

• build-essential
• g++
• m4
• automake
• autoconf

Compiling

For compilation, a build.sh script is provided, that should be run as is. It will compile the tests of OpenStratos and run them. After that, the main program can be compiled using make. Optional configuration arguments can be passed. The first optional configuration argument is the NO_SMS flag. This prevents actual SMSs being sent, even if they are simulated. This way no charges will be applied. For using this argument the directory should be cleaned with make clean and then pass the NO_SMS flag to the configure script:

./configure CPPFLAGS="-DNO_SMS"

After that the usual make will compile the software. Note that the test do not send SMSs. The software itself comes with two built-in simulation modes:

Normal Simulation

In this mode, a simple simulation is made, with a length of about 45 minutes. It will run through all the main stages of the program. For using this mode the directory should be cleaned with make clean and then pass the SIM flag to the configure script:

./configure CPPFLAGS="-DSIM"

It can be combined with the NO_SMS flag:

./configure CPPFLAGS="-DSIM -DNO_SMS"

After that, the software can be compiled using make.

Realistic Simulation

In this mode, a complete realistic simulation is made, that will last for about 5 hours. It will realistically simulate the times in a 35 km height balloon. It will be similar to the normal simulation, the only change will be in the timing. For using this mode the directory should be cleaned with make clean and then pass the REAL_SIM flag to the configure script:

./configure CPPFLAGS="-DREAL_SIM"

It can be combined with the NO_SMS flag:

./configure CPPFLAGS="-DREAL_SIM -DNO_SMS"

After that, the software can be compiled using make. The result of combining the two simulation flags will be an error when building the main program. For testing it will have no effect.

Debug Mode

The software has a small debug mode, that prints from stdio some logs that occur before the log file is created. It also enables serial logging, that will log everything that happens in the serial. This has a moderate overhead and should not be used in production. GSM and GPS loggers log everything they send and receive. This is only needed to debug if something goes wrong with the serial. For using this mode the directory should be cleaned with make clean and then pass the DEBUG flag to the configure script:

./configure CPPFLAGS="-DDEBUG"

It can be combined with the NO_SMS flag or/and one of the simulation flags:

./configure CPPFLAGS="-DREAL_SIM -DNO_SMS -DDEBUG"
./configure CPPFLAGS="-DSIM -DDEBUG"
./configure CPPFLAGS="-DNO_SMS -DDEBUG"

No power off mode

For some testing there is no need to reboot or shut down the system in failures. For this, the software provides the no power off mode, that will prevent the software from shutting the Raspberry Pi down. For using this mode the directory should be cleaned with make clean and then pass the NO_POWER_OFF flag to the configure script:

./configure CPPFLAGS="-DNO_POWER_OFF"

It can be combined with the NO_SMS flag, the DEBUG flag or/and one of the simulation flags:

./configure CPPFLAGS="-DREAL_SIM -DNO_SMS -DDEBUG -DNO_POWER_OFF"
./configure CPPFLAGS="-DSIM -DDEBUG -DNO_POWER_OFF"
./configure CPPFLAGS="-DNO_SMS -DDEBUG -DNO_POWER_OFF"

License

This software is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3. You can use, copy, modify the software as long as all the derivative work is published under the same license. A copy of the license can be found in the COPYING file of the repository where a detailed explanation of the copying rights can be found.

Contributing guidelines

The guidelines to contribute to this repository can be found in the contribution guidelines file of the repository.