Layouts

SpaceBridge HAB PCB

High Altitude Balloon (HAB) PCB Tracker with cutdown mechanism, GPS, environmental monitoring, LoRa telemetry and particle detection capabilities.

Created by Lucy Moglia eigenlucy@proton.me

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Project Structure
• Block Diagram
• Features
• Getting Started
  • Building the Project
  • Installation
    • Linux Installation
    • Mac Installation
    • Visual Studio Code/Cursor Extension

Overview

The SpaceBridge HAB PCB is a comprehensive tracking and instrumentation system for high altitude balloon experiments. It integrates multiple subsystems including power management, telemetry, GPS tracking, environmental monitoring, and a particle counter based on CERN open source hardware.

Project Structure

Block Diagram

Original Block Diagram

Mermaid Diagram

graph TD
    %% Power System
    Solar["Solar Panel"] --> MPPT["SPV1040 MicroMPPT"]
    MPPT --> BattProt["UVP/OCP/OVP Battery Protection"]
    BattProt --- Battery["LTO Battery"]
    BattProt --> BoostBuck["TPS63020 Boost-Buck"]
    BoostBuck --> Power5V["5V Power Rail"]
    
    %% ESP32 Microcontroller (Central)
    ESP32["ESP32-S3"] 
    
    %% 5V Devices
    Power5V --> LoRa["E22-900M30S/SX1262 LoRa Module"]
    Power5V --> ParticleCounter["CERN DIY Particle Counter"]
    Power5V --> CutoffSystem["Cutoff System"]
    
    %% Cutoff System Components
    CutoffSystem --> Supercap["3.5V Low ESR Supercap"]
    CutoffSystem --> Nichrome["Nichrome Wire ~20Ω"]
    CutoffSystem --> TIP120["TIP120 NPN Darlington"]
    
    %% I2C Devices (3.3V)
    ESP32 -- I2C/IO6+IO7 --> OLED["SSD1306 128x32 OLED"]
    ESP32 -- I2C/IO6+IO7 --> BME680["BME680 Sensor"]

Features

• Power Management: Solar charging with MPPT, battery protection and 5V regulation
• Communication: 915MHz LoRa radio for long-range telemetry (30dBm TX max)
• Positioning: ATGM336H GNSS/GPS module
• Sensors:
  • BME680 temperature/humidity/pressure/gas sensor
  • CERN DIY particle counter for radiation detection
• Display: SSD1306 128x32 OLED screen
• Control: ESP32-S3 microcontroller
• Recovery: Nichrome wire cutdown mechanism for payload separation

Getting Started

Building the Project

1. Clone the required submodules

   git submodule update --init --recursive

2. Build the project to select components based on JLCPCB availability

   ato build -t all

3. Complete/review the layout with KiCad Standalone PCB editor

4. Gerbers/PCBA files are generated through an Actions run on a commit

Installation

Linux Installation

1. Install uv

2. Install KiCad with your preferred package manager (apt for Debian, pacman for Arch, etc.)

3. Install atopile as a tool with uv (Python 3.13.2 recommended):

   uv tool install atopile

   Alternative installation method:

   1. Clone the main atopile repo
   2. Remove the uv lock file:

      rm uv.lock

   3. Sync repo to dev release:

      uv sync --dev

   4. Compile atopile:

      uv build

   5. Install the binary:

      uv tool install atopile-0.3.XX-cp313-cp313-linux-_x86_64.whl

   6. Add the uv tools binary directory to your PATH (command depends on your shell, e.g., with fish):

      fish_add_path /home/user/.local/share/uv/tools/atopile/

4. Check your version:

   ato --version

5. Configure the atopile plugin:

   ato configure

Mac Installation

1. Install Homebrew
2. Install KiCad 9:

   brew install --cask kicad

3. Install atopile with Homebrew:

   brew install atopile/tap/atopile

4. Configure the atopile plugin:

   ato configure

Visual Studio Code/Cursor Extension Install

Install the atopile extension into Cursor or Visual Studio Code.