Arduino powered rocket computers?

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jet flyer

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I was wondering if there was any Arduino powered rocket computers out there. Was thinking of making one if not. I would think even the atmega 328 could handle most of what's needed. I was thinking of making a cheap and easy to use (yet fairly capable) board so even casual rocketry enthusiasts could get further into the hobby. But it would also be capable of being used on high power and advanced rockets. thinking of a regular(E-F), mini(A-D, also smaller in size for smaller diameter rockets), and pro(G+) version.
I'm fairly familiar with the low-end of rocketry but haven't gotten the money for the bigger stuff yet so if there isn't an option already out there what would it need to do to be viable?

p.s. I mean more of an actual product made for rocketry than if an uno or micro board has been used in a rocket
 
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jet flyer said:
Thanks for the links, I guess I didn't clarify. I was really talking about a product made for rocketry, not really if it's been used.
Click to expand...

The EggTimer is an ATmega328 based system, which is a commonly used Arduino development platform, namely the Arduino Uno and Arduino Nano models.
And you can buy complete Alti-Uno and Alti-Duo units direct from Boris.

These are made for rocketry...
 
MWC said:
The EggTimer is an ATmega328 based system, which is a commonly used Arduino development platform, namely the Arduino Uno and Arduino Nano models.
And you can buy complete Alti-Uno and Alti-Duo units direct from Boris.

These are made for rocketry...
Click to expand...
I see what you mean I just saw the first post with the micro and a bread board(was still reading through at the time of posting, whoops). I was thinking of one that did a little more than an altimeter though, more of a plug and play type. It could also have flight data recording, in-air start, maybe IAS or GPS if you really want, etc.
I was also wondering if there was enough of a market to actually produce them to sell. The ones I see online are fairly expensive. Of course the type of people using them can afford it considering the cost of a single launch, but still *if* there's a better way I'd like to try.
 
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jet flyer said:
I see what you mean I just saw the first post with the micro and a bread board(was still reading through at the time of posting, whoops). I was thinking of one that did a little more than an altimeter though, more of a plug and play type. It could also have flight data recording, in-air start, maybe IAS or GPS if you really want, etc.
I was also wondering if there was enough of a market to actually produce them to sell. The ones I see online are fairly expensive. Of course the type of people using them can afford it considering the cost of a single launch, but still *if* there's a better way I'd like to try.
Click to expand...

Yes I also did one
https://rocket.payload.free.fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=11&lang=en
It has a Java interface.
You can download the code on my website

You also have Leo's Altduino
https://www.altduino.de/

You are welcome to contribute
Boris
 
Cool I'll look at that, thanks. Been wanting to try my hand at PCB making so this might be a good start. I'll post here when I do anything though school is about to start up

Just wondering, is the soldering on an Arduino micro or similar boars good enough to hold up for the larger rockets? Have y'all had any issues with connectors or solder joints coming loose?
 
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jet flyer said:
Just wondering, is the soldering on an Arduino micro or similar boars good enough to hold up for the larger rockets? Have y'all had any issues with connectors or solder joints coming loose?
Click to expand...
I have been flying my home soldered altimeters with K motors and they work well however I get the pcb done by a Chinese company
 
FWIW - I'm interested in finding or developing the same thing: an Arduino powered system with a full sensor array, deployment capabilities, GPS, and telemetry. What I'd really like to do is to consume the data into a PC so I can do realtime plotting and charting, 'cause I'm a data nerd and that's kinda my thing. There are a few projects out there, but I haven't found exactly the right thing yet. I also want to keep the cost as low as possible.

The telemega has everything I'm looking for, except it's non-Arduino, and it comes with a steep price tag.

The ArduIMUV4 looks like it could be an ideal core for a homebrew system, except that it's vaporware. It's even got a bunch of extra sensors that I don't consider critical, but might be fun to have. The v3 is an option, but it needs a pressure sensor (altimeter) at least. Neither option has an integrated transmitter, but that's fine.

I'm sure I missed something somewhere.

Anyway, for now, I'm working on a prototype based on a Fio v3 (arduino) + HMC5883L (compass) + MS5611 (altimeter) + MPU6050 (accelerometer) + NEO6MV2 (GPS) + XBee. Aside from the XBee, the components are all pretty cheap... but some assembly is required. Turns out, you can't just duct tape it all together and have it work. :)

Oh, and hi... first post.
 
siege said:
FWIW - I'm interested in finding or developing the same thing: an Arduino powered system with a full sensor array, deployment capabilities, GPS, and telemetry. What I'd really like to do is to consume the data into a PC so I can do realtime plotting and charting, 'cause I'm a data nerd and that's kinda my thing. There are a few projects out there, but I haven't found exactly the right thing yet. I also want to keep the cost as low as possible.

The telemega has everything I'm looking for, except it's non-Arduino, and it comes with a steep price tag.

The ArduIMUV4 looks like it could be an ideal core for a homebrew system, except that it's vaporware. It's even got a bunch of extra sensors that I don't consider critical, but might be fun to have. The v3 is an option, but it needs a pressure sensor (altimeter) at least. Neither option has an integrated transmitter, but that's fine.

I'm sure I missed something somewhere.

Anyway, for now, I'm working on a prototype based on a Fio v3 (arduino) + HMC5883L (compass) + MS5611 (altimeter) + MPU6050 (accelerometer) + NEO6MV2 (GPS) + XBee. Aside from the XBee, the components are all pretty cheap... but some assembly is required. Turns out, you can't just duct tape it all together and have it work. :)

Oh, and hi... first post.
Click to expand...
What cost money is not buying the components and building it.... Testing it is expensive because you have to test it with fly (ie buy motors). That is why people selling complex altimeters sell them more than the price of the components.
I am lucky I do sugar rockets and fly a lot so it is 10 time cheaper than an AP motor.
Secondly I do it for fun and not to save money (even if at the end of the day I can afford to have 2 or 3 altimeters per rocket)
Thirdly I have had people on this forum helping me out with code, bug fixes and ideas

My advice would be, look at what is around,understand it, try it, modify it .... but start with something simple
I have published my code so you can download it and improve it
https://rocket.payload.free.fr/

Other people making altimeters using different technologies have also open up their code just browse the internet
 
siege said:
The telemega has everything I'm looking for, except it's non-Arduino, and it comes with a steep price tag.
Click to expand...

Have you considered just building the Telemega yourself? Its open source.

Also I would recommend moving to an ARM system. The following is a interesting transition board, easy Arduino programming interface to a arm cortex processor.
https://store.oshpark.com/products/teensy-3-1
 
siege said:
FWIW - I'm interested in finding or developing the same thing: an Arduino powered system with a full sensor array, deployment capabilities, GPS, and telemetry. What I'd really like to do is to consume the data into a PC so I can do realtime plotting and charting, 'cause I'm a data nerd and that's kinda my thing. There are a few projects out there, but I haven't found exactly the right thing yet. I also want to keep the cost as low as possible.

The telemega has everything I'm looking for, except it's non-Arduino, and it comes with a steep price tag.

The ArduIMUV4 looks like it could be an ideal core for a homebrew system, except that it's vaporware. It's even got a bunch of extra sensors that I don't consider critical, but might be fun to have. The v3 is an option, but it needs a pressure sensor (altimeter) at least. Neither option has an integrated transmitter, but that's fine.

I'm sure I missed something somewhere.

Anyway, for now, I'm working on a prototype based on a Fio v3 (arduino) + HMC5883L (compass) + MS5611 (altimeter) + MPU6050 (accelerometer) + NEO6MV2 (GPS) + XBee. Aside from the XBee, the components are all pretty cheap... but some assembly is required. Turns out, you can't just duct tape it all together and have it work. :)

Oh, and hi... first post.
Click to expand...

I'm considering using the new flutter wireless arduino board for telemetry, maybe could work something out
 
jet flyer said:
I'm considering using the new flutter wireless arduino board for telemetry, maybe could work something out
Click to expand...

The flutter looks promising. I hadn't seen it. Is it available for purchase?

I tinkered around with a breadboard prototype for a little while before I decided to experiment with an APM board + 433MHz telemetry kit. Someone mentioned it in this post, but I don't know if the OP every got it off the ground in a rocket. Basically, it's an Arduino and 11DOF sensor package. Same kind of thing you'd use on an RC copter, and comparable components to what we're talking about here. Cheap versions can be had for <$100 w/ GPS & RX/TX. Maybe not something I'd trust deployment control in a live rocket to (at least not at first), but it should form a decent platform for designing a software package around, and that's more my wheelhouse anyway.
 
Sweet! I just pledged as well. There doesn't seem to be GPS interface in the final version, and you either need two devices or an unspecified zigbee type receiver to do remote comms, but it's still a neat little device. Can't wait to see it in a rocket!
 
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