Falcon 9 Model Rocket: July 2016

Mini Falcon 9 Project

by Lance Pierson armatecgroup@gmail.com

UPDATE:

As of May 1st 2017 this project is on hold.

ALL OF OUR 3D PRINTED PARTS WILL BE FOUND HERE:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1664368

Update 7/30/16
I found another person working on something very similar, and we are planning a collaborative effort to accomplish our mutual goal, to build a rocket that can launch and land propulsively & allow people to enjoy the excitement of Spacex's innovation on a micro level. I think this would be a great tool for teachers to introduce STEM to students.

http://www.bps.space/#bps-cover
https://twitter.com/joebarnard

Here is Joe Barnard's rocket Scout:

For the time being I will be focusing on propulsion, and the development of a micro hybrid rocket engine (MHE). And Joe will continue developing the avionics and digital architecture.

I think it is a necessity to have an engine that can be throttled, stopped and restarted.
Until we know the size and shape of the final engine, It makes no sense to go too much into the landing legs and grid fins etc because the we don't yet know the scale. I think the rocket should be designed around the engine, not the other way around.

Here are the tests. Newest on top oldest on the bottom:

MHE-03 T4

MHE-03 T3

MHE-03 T2

MHE-03 T1

MHE-02 T2

MHE-02 T1

MHE-01 T2

MHE-01 T1

OLDER POSTS (MAY BE OUTDATED)

This blog is about my rocket project.

There are several phases of development starting with simple things and then expanding into much more complex tasks.
0) Build a parts library for 3D printing
1) Implement Arduino for secondary chute deployment
2) ~~Reverse engineer Estes D engines~~ (I decided to focus on the hybrid engine development and use standard Estes and Apogee engines for chute testing etc.
3) Develop micro hybrid rocket engine (N0S w/Acrylic grain)
4) Test gimbaled thrust and micro hydraulics
5) Implement avionics (thrust control, altimeter, GPS, accelerometer, digital gyroscope etc.) to guide the rocket up in a straight line without fins, and to eventually land propulsively. Beyond that the added ability to control the rocket and view data from a smartphone app.

INFANCY...
I bought 2 Falcon 9 model rockets from SpaceX.com one will fly right away and the other will be used for development of new add on's and other tests & measurements.
The first thing I want to do is create a secondary chute deployment and convert the existing chute deployment into a drogue which is a parachute used to orient and slow down the descent by just a tad, the rocket will be falling pretty fast, basically I am cutting a big hole in the center of the parachute. Why? because I am using a D engine and I want the least amount of wind drift as possible. My goal is to focus the landing site to the smallest area possible. The measure for success here is to have the rocket come within 20 feet of the launch site. I always set ambitious goals, we will see how close we can get for now. The secondary chute, the main chute will be deployed using an Arduino Nano micro-controller and a pyrotechnic charge.

Monday, July 11, 2016

UPDATE:

As of May 1st 2017 this project is on hold.

Here are the tests. Newest on top oldest on the bottom: