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I am writing this post to solicit help from the rocketry community on an ambitious new project I have started. I will be looking for help on multiple aspects of this project from various groups of contributors which I will outline below, if you would like to contribute to this project in anyway please leave a message here or PM me and I will contact you with more information as the project progresses.
The project I am starting is to design and build a new more powerful and more capable flight computer for rocketry use. I am starting with a proven open source flight computer for drone copters/planes/rovers and I will be developing custom rocketry oriented firmware and software.
In the end I plan to have a flight computer system with open source firmware and software that runs on a variety of hardware. It will have features and configurability beyond what is available in any current rocketry product, and it will also have much more advanced telemetry and data logging. The unit will have 2 way communications allowing it to be optionally remotely armed (independent of the power switch) and reprogrammed in the rocket up to the minute it is armed on the pad so it can be reconfigured for changing weather conditions. The two way communications and R/C interface also allow two options for remote ejection override or a backup charge in the case of recovery failure. Lastly, the unit will have support for active flight stabilization and eventually control of steerable recovery chutes.
The system I am basing this on is the ardupilot package which runs on a number of different very capable hardware systems. I have chosen the mini APM 2.6 v3.1 paired with an external GPS/compass unit (uBlox M8N) these units are 35mmx35mm and can be stacked or placed side by side. I have also selected a 915MHz radio unit based on the same chip used by the eggfinder. This hardware is designed for extremely accurate and stable control of camera equipped uavs and has some impressive sensors and I/O capabilities.
All told this setup has:
6 DoF Accelerometer/Gyro (MPU-6000 - 16Gs, 2000dps)
High precision barometer/temperature sensor (MS5611-01BA03 100kft @ 4 inch resolution)
8 pwm inputs for R/C control / 8 pwm outputs for servos or motors
12 channels of programmable I/O that can be analog or digital inputs or digital outputs
4MB of flash for data logging
2 way 915MHz data link with programmable channels
USB interface
High end GPS with extra-large ceramic antenna
Current / Voltage sensing
The stock software has live GPS tracking and flight telemetry including altitude, pitch/yaw/roll, battery voltage, in flight programming of mission parameters plus the ability to override the system (thing remote backup charges)
And the total cost for all of this hardware is $104.
I plan to add a simple board for switching, power regulation, and high current charge firing, and as an independent part of the project a Bluetooth remote firing system for separating the an av-bay from the ejection charges.
Im still developing a complete list of desired features but I have some lofty goals already. However, I plan to build and test this project in stages so no unnecessary risks are taken. The complete feature list and project status will be covered in the second post of this thread and I will do my best to keep this information current.
So what do I need from the TRF community?
First, I am looking for feature requests. I have not used most of the flight computers out there but would like to take lessons from the features that they offer and the issues people have with them. Anything you want, no matter how pie in the sky, please post or PM and I will add it to the list and prioritize it with the other features.
Second, I am looking for programmers. I have a programming background and I have recruited my brother who is a professional software developer, I have also solicit help from the current ardupilot developer group. However, the ardupilot core is 700k lines of code and while I will be able to use mostly existing code there will be a significant amount of rocketry specific code to develop so I can use the extra help. If you have strong C++ and/or C# skill and would like to help please pm me.
Third, I am looking for a hardware developer. I can design build the prototype hardware and etch the initial prototype PCBs but eventually I would like to have more professional hardware.
Forth, I am looking for rocketeers in and around the Chicago area (QCRS, Michiana, TWA) who attend regular launches and would be willing to launch my test rocket. I dont realistically think I can consistently get to monthly launches to get in enough test flights to gather the data to keep this project moving along at a reasonable pace. Alternatively, I would love to have rocketeers that would be willing to fly the same setup in their own birds and send me data and flight reports.
Please bear with me while I get the feature list written up it should give everyone a more complete picture of this project.
The project I am starting is to design and build a new more powerful and more capable flight computer for rocketry use. I am starting with a proven open source flight computer for drone copters/planes/rovers and I will be developing custom rocketry oriented firmware and software.
In the end I plan to have a flight computer system with open source firmware and software that runs on a variety of hardware. It will have features and configurability beyond what is available in any current rocketry product, and it will also have much more advanced telemetry and data logging. The unit will have 2 way communications allowing it to be optionally remotely armed (independent of the power switch) and reprogrammed in the rocket up to the minute it is armed on the pad so it can be reconfigured for changing weather conditions. The two way communications and R/C interface also allow two options for remote ejection override or a backup charge in the case of recovery failure. Lastly, the unit will have support for active flight stabilization and eventually control of steerable recovery chutes.
The system I am basing this on is the ardupilot package which runs on a number of different very capable hardware systems. I have chosen the mini APM 2.6 v3.1 paired with an external GPS/compass unit (uBlox M8N) these units are 35mmx35mm and can be stacked or placed side by side. I have also selected a 915MHz radio unit based on the same chip used by the eggfinder. This hardware is designed for extremely accurate and stable control of camera equipped uavs and has some impressive sensors and I/O capabilities.
All told this setup has:
6 DoF Accelerometer/Gyro (MPU-6000 - 16Gs, 2000dps)
High precision barometer/temperature sensor (MS5611-01BA03 100kft @ 4 inch resolution)
8 pwm inputs for R/C control / 8 pwm outputs for servos or motors
12 channels of programmable I/O that can be analog or digital inputs or digital outputs
4MB of flash for data logging
2 way 915MHz data link with programmable channels
USB interface
High end GPS with extra-large ceramic antenna
Current / Voltage sensing
The stock software has live GPS tracking and flight telemetry including altitude, pitch/yaw/roll, battery voltage, in flight programming of mission parameters plus the ability to override the system (thing remote backup charges)
And the total cost for all of this hardware is $104.
I plan to add a simple board for switching, power regulation, and high current charge firing, and as an independent part of the project a Bluetooth remote firing system for separating the an av-bay from the ejection charges.
Im still developing a complete list of desired features but I have some lofty goals already. However, I plan to build and test this project in stages so no unnecessary risks are taken. The complete feature list and project status will be covered in the second post of this thread and I will do my best to keep this information current.
So what do I need from the TRF community?
First, I am looking for feature requests. I have not used most of the flight computers out there but would like to take lessons from the features that they offer and the issues people have with them. Anything you want, no matter how pie in the sky, please post or PM and I will add it to the list and prioritize it with the other features.
Second, I am looking for programmers. I have a programming background and I have recruited my brother who is a professional software developer, I have also solicit help from the current ardupilot developer group. However, the ardupilot core is 700k lines of code and while I will be able to use mostly existing code there will be a significant amount of rocketry specific code to develop so I can use the extra help. If you have strong C++ and/or C# skill and would like to help please pm me.
Third, I am looking for a hardware developer. I can design build the prototype hardware and etch the initial prototype PCBs but eventually I would like to have more professional hardware.
Forth, I am looking for rocketeers in and around the Chicago area (QCRS, Michiana, TWA) who attend regular launches and would be willing to launch my test rocket. I dont realistically think I can consistently get to monthly launches to get in enough test flights to gather the data to keep this project moving along at a reasonable pace. Alternatively, I would love to have rocketeers that would be willing to fly the same setup in their own birds and send me data and flight reports.
Please bear with me while I get the feature list written up it should give everyone a more complete picture of this project.
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