MIT Students Take Pictures from 93,000 ft on $150 Budget. • Hacker News Board

Re: MIT Students Take Pictures from 93,000 ft on $150 Budget.

#11

Post by jmtame » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 10:32 PM UTC

cesare wrote: post #10

They aren't the first to do something like this. Here's a very similar project made in 2007: http://www.natrium42.com/halo/flight2/

i think the cost is the surprising factor about this story. taken from the site you posted:

Q:How much did it cost? A:The system that is presented is a little over-engineered for historical reasons as well as for future expansion and test purposes. It's possible to build a system for $500 with just a cellphone link and a microcontroller, but make sure that coverage is good where you intend to launch and use a good cellphone antenna.

Re: MIT Students Take Pictures from 93,000 ft on $150 Budget.

#12

Post by jmtame » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 10:33 PM UTC

heyitsnick wrote: post #5

Direct link to the pictures: http://space.1337arts.com/flight

direct link to the ingredients:

http://space.1337arts.com/hardware

Re: MIT Students Take Pictures from 93,000 ft on $150 Budget.

#13

Post by gcheong » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 10:51 PM UTC

caa09hh wrote: post #2

These are the kinds of things that make me want to attend MIT. You can easily market these things if you made them user-friendly. Maybe even put a steering mechanism on them?

Why do you think these things are peculiar to MIT?

Re: MIT Students Take Pictures from 93,000 ft on $150 Budget.

#14

Post by joshhart » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 10:56 PM UTC

gcheong wrote: post #13

caa09hh wrote: post #2

These are the kinds of things that make me want to attend MIT. You can easily market these things if you made them user-friendly. Maybe even put a steering mechanism on them?

Why do you think these things are peculiar to MIT?

Because of this: "Justin Lee and Oliver Yeh". At a state school, it can be quite difficult to find another person willing to help you build your dreams.

Re: MIT Students Take Pictures from 93,000 ft on $150 Budget.

#15

Post by cesare » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 10:56 PM UTC

jmtame wrote: post #11

cesare wrote: post #10

They aren't the first to do something like this. Here's a very similar project made in 2007: http://www.natrium42.com/halo/flight2/

i think the cost is the surprising factor about this story. taken from the site you posted: Q:How much did it cost? A:The system that is presented is a little over-engineered for historical reasons as well as for future expansion and test purposes. It's possible to build a system for $500 with just a cellphone link and a microcontroller, but make sure that coverage is good where you intend to launch and use a good ce…

True. But consider also that this has been made two years ago, with 2007 technology.

Edit: Take the camera for instance. The MIT students used a Canon PowerShot A470 (they bought it used from ebay) which costs $120 new and is 7 mega pixels. This guy used a similar camera (Canon PowerShot A70) which was only 3.1 mega pixels and costed $350 when it came out.

Re: MIT Students Take Pictures from 93,000 ft on $150 Budget.

#16

Post by eob » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 11:15 PM UTC

joshhart wrote: post #14

gcheong wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think these things are peculiar to MIT?

Because of this: "Justin Lee and Oliver Yeh". At a state school, it can be quite difficult to find another person willing to help you build your dreams.

As someone who went to a state school for undergrad, worked for a few years, and is currently at MIT for a PhD: Yes. MIT is a magical place like none other.

It's hard to put it more concisely.. The whole school just has an aura of "what the hell, let's try it" and a the professors and financial backing to make it happen.

Re: MIT Students Take Pictures from 93,000 ft on $150 Budget.

#17

Post by cesare » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 11:16 PM UTC

gcheong wrote: post #13

caa09hh wrote: post #2

These are the kinds of things that make me want to attend MIT. You can easily market these things if you made them user-friendly. Maybe even put a steering mechanism on them?

Why do you think these things are peculiar to MIT?

Top notch marketing/PR? ;-)

Re: MIT Students Take Pictures from 93,000 ft on $150 Budget.

#18

Post by tricky » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 11:17 PM UTC

I can't find information about the balloon. What kind of balloon did they use and where can I buy one?

Re: MIT Students Take Pictures from 93,000 ft on $150 Budget.

#19

Post by rbanffy » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 11:43 PM UTC

andreyf wrote: post #7

gjm11 wrote: post #6

It's a bit of a stretch to call 20 miles up "space".

Yes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space#Boundary

Come on. The sky is black, the ground is blue...

And its farther from the ground than I ever was.

Let them brag. If more people build simple affordable stuff that go higher than common aircraft and give them a taste of what space is, I am fine with it. It's a step in the right direction.

Re: MIT Students Take Pictures from 93,000 ft on $150 Budget.

#20

Post by cesare » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 11:46 PM UTC

eob wrote: post #16

joshhart wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because of this: "Justin Lee and Oliver Yeh". At a state school, it can be quite difficult to find another person willing to help you build your dreams.

As someone who went to a state school for undergrad, worked for a few years, and is currently at MIT for a PhD: Yes. MIT is a magical place like none other. It's hard to put it more concisely.. The whole school just has an aura of "what the hell, let's try it" and a the professors and financial backing to make it happen.

It seem that financial backing wasn't needed for this project. Isn't the cheap cost the surprising factor here?