Looking for an altimeter with a gyroscope

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kavel_r

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I'm looking for an altimeter that has a gyroscope so it can fire charges or ignite second stage motors based on the orientation/tilt of the rocket. Anyone know of an altimeter capable of this?
 
The new Eggtimer proton calculates and detects off angle, to prevent unsafe airstarts. It does not use a gyro, but it does have 6 channels.
 
Thanks guys! All good options, but they're all too expensive for my team so we'll look for other ways to do our project.
 
MISSILEWORKS PET2+ TIMER dosen't use a gyro, but may provide the functionality you are looking for. I have purchased one for my Sparrow HV-Arcus.
And it's less expensive that the other units listed. Hope this helps,

-Mike
 
This might be out of turn but I'd never consider using a simple timer for lighting a staging motor in a two stage HPR stack. Personally I feel that there should be a modicum of "smarts" in your staging motor ignition configuration/logic. At a minimum using something like a Raven configured to not fire the sustainer unless the altimeter passes a time plus altitude condition test should be the bare minimum for HPR staging logic.
 
No doubt, but if you read the specs from Missile Works, it seems to me to be a bit more than a simple timer, and there are several available checks in the command chain, before the sustainer would be lit. (Velocity, Tilt, etc.) Obviously, the Raven has more capability, at over twice the price, I would expect that, the OP was looking for a more frugal option.

-Mike
 
Did you have any other requirements for this or is it just for staging? Number of events? Data recording? Tracking? What price did you want to stay under?
 
Eric said:
The new Eggtimer proton calculates and detects off angle, to prevent unsafe airstarts. It does not use a gyro, but it does have 6 channels.
Click to expand...
Yes, it doesn’t use a gyro, but it does employ an axial accelerometer together with altitude qualification to perform the off-axis detection for staging. A very versatile altimeter for the price, particularly if you’re not challenged using a soldering iron.
 
Last edited:
kavel_r said:
Thanks guys! All good options, but they're all too expensive for my team so we'll look for other ways to do our project.
Click to expand...

Hi Kavel,

I'm going to be honest here. If your team can't afford ~$300 USD in electronics to ensure you're going to be able to safely and successfully stage a HPR stack you should probably re-evaluate if you can even afford to attempt the project full stop. Unless you're staging slow and low, which itself adds challenges to the project, you'd most likely need tracking on the sustainer. Ideally that tracking would be GPS based and that would most likely exceed the costs associated with purchasing avionics that can inhibit lighting your sustainer motor based on tilt values. Most of the time HPR staging is complex, hard, and expensive. If $300 is a deal breaker that concerns me primarily as it will most likely lead to corners being cut in the name of cost savings. That's not a great recipe for success when staging imho.
 
plugger said:
Hi Kavel,

I'm going to be honest here. If your team can't afford ~$300 USD in electronics to ensure you're going to be able to safely and successfully stage a HPR stack you should probably re-evaluate if you can even afford to attempt the project full stop. Unless you're staging slow and low, which itself adds challenges to the project, you'd most likely need tracking on the sustainer. Ideally that tracking would be GPS based and that would most likely exceed the costs associated with purchasing avionics that can inhibit lighting your sustainer motor based on tilt values. Most of the time HPR staging is complex, hard, and expensive. If $300 is a deal breaker that concerns me primarily as it will most likely lead to corners being cut in the name of cost savings. That's not a great recipe for success when staging imho.
Click to expand...
I appreciate the concern, but our project isn't HPR and is in planning phases. It'll be staying mid power and under 1000 ft.
 
kavel_r said:
I appreciate the concern, but our project isn't HPR and is in planning phases. It'll be staying mid power and under 1000 ft.
Click to expand...
You may not need a full IMU for off-axis protection, however you still need to sim it thoroughly and accurately so you know what's going on. There are a number of reasonably affordable devices that will do the staging based on altitude@time and/or velocity@time, I would highly recommend using one. Even with a MPR 2-stager, it's still quite possible to have it do things that you don't want. Doing MPR as a gateway for ultimately building an HPR 2-stager is an excellent idea.
 

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