Smartphone as a replacement for... well... everything?

[MJT]

Smartphones have become really, really smart, and I'm just wondering if anyone has seen them used in amateur rockets yet? I've seen them used as cameras, and as GPS recovery devices, but many of the cutting edge phones have accelerometers and barometers as well.

Would it be possible to use a smartphone as a replacement for ALL of the electronics in a rocket? In particular I'm thinking of the Galaxy Nexus 4. It is $300, completely unlocked with no contract. Here is the ifixit teardown of the Nexus 4. If you scroll down you can see it has all sorts of crazy goodies inside.

With a couple of relays and a 9v battery, this 139g phone (a lot less if you were to find a replacement 3.8v LiIon battery with only a few hundred mAh, instead of 2100) could be a Camera, GPS tracking device, dual deployment electronics, delayed ignition of secondary stages, and flight data recording device.

There have been several posts about the first smartphone satellite. Why not build a smartphone rocket? At $300 that's cheaper than many electronics modules.

On top of it all, the damn things are built to be dropped. Who knows? Maybe the Nexus 4 could survive a 400mph nosedive into the ground.

 

[FastCargo]

Sounds like you've found yourself a project to try!

FC

 

[JDcluster]

I never heard of a "smart phone" that has a built in Barometer?
They do have GPS which is how they can usually obtain altitude.


JD

 

[CarVac]

I never heard of a "smart phone" that has a built in Barometer?
They do have GPS which is how they can usually obtain altitude.


JD

My Galaxy Nexus has an air pressure sensor.

 

[RoyAtl]

Someone, maybe Steve Jurvetson? flew a first gen iPhone in a rocket running a special app that used the accelerometers to try to record flight events, but the accelerometers were overloaded during thrust, so the data was useless. I don't know if current smartphone accelerometer range has been extended much more.