August
2005, Issue 181
Flight
Computer for High-Power Rocketry
MINI-ME & ZSAT
I
My
high-power rocket club holds three launches a year at
Black Rock: the MudRock launch in June, the Aeronaut
launch at the end of July, and the AERO-PAC Extreme
Performance Rocket Ships (XPRS) launch at the end of
September. I completed my Level 1 certification flight
at the July 2004 Aeronaut launch during a mission called
“Mini-Me,” which is also the name of my AMRAAM 2 rocket.
After
building the Mini-Me Level 1 rocket, I decided to add
a payload area for a flight computer that measures acceleration,
altitude, and temperature. My first rocket flight computer,
code named ZSAT I, is shown in Photo 2. I can view the
flight data on my cell phone right after a flight. Yes,
it’s a little geeky!
I
built the ZSAT I system around a 28-pin, 3-V, 8-KB,
flash memory-based Zilog Encore! F08 microcontroller,
which includes IrDA, 1 KB byte of SRAM, a 10-bit ADC,
I2C, and an SPI port.
My
Level 1 certification flight with Mini-Me was on a H220W
reload. The cost of the motor reload was approximately
$35. I didn’t do anything special for this flight. I
keep things simple. I purchased my reload on launch
day from a vendor at the launch site. I then read the
reload instructions, installed the loaded 29/180 motor
casing in Mini-Me, taped my igniter to the side of the
rocket, filled out the flight card, and headed down
to the RSO table.
After
I hooked up with my Tripoli prefect and cleared the
RSO table, I loaded Mini-Me on Pad 13, installed the
igniter, hooked the igniter clips to the igniter, and
pushed the launch pad test button. All systems were
go. I then waited for my launch slot. Man, I had some
butterflies.
Five,
four, three, two, one…Fire in the hole! Off she went,
well, like a rocket.
After
my rocket was safely floating in its chute, the butterflies
in my stomach disappeared and I set off to retrieve
it. My Level 1 certification was almost completed at
that point. I just had to pick up the rocket and bring
it to my prefect so he could look it over and sign my
certification papers.
