At the Hurrah Jasper and Hayes gave the group some insight into the process of building the rocket. They talked about the challenge they were given this year which was described as one of the hardest yet. They talked through some of the troubles and successes they have had, along with some teachable moments they had at Bong that they are ready to conquer next year. The 2019-2020 team leads were announced to be Nicole Biskner and Nathen Schollaert!
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The Rocket team traveled to the Richard Bong Recreation area to launch the rocket! It was a beautiful day and the skies were clear. The rocket took off perfectly, flying straight in the air and reaching about 800 feet. Unfortunately, the parachute system did not deploy as expected, and the rocket came back to ground pretty hard. The team still had a blast and learned a ton from the year. They're expecting big things next year!
The massive rocket body tube is almost finished being assembled, which the paint job can start being planned. This team is going to have a giant canvas to work with as you can see the massive rocket body in the picture above. We'll be able to see this thing go up in the air no problem. Programming and debugging is continuing on the GEM to be sure that we can get as far away from the rocket upon landing as possible.
There's a lot of work being done to get this rocket off the ground. The picture above shows the latest of many revisions of the GEM (Ground Excursion Module). Being such a large 3D printed object, there have been many issues along the way with warping and incomplete prints. The latest revision plans to be a 2 piece GEM that is then assembled by the team and placed in the rocket. Work has begun on the body tube and the assembly of the electronics.
The parts are in and this rocket is huuuuuuuuge! Standing over 7 feet tall, this is going to be the biggest rocket to date for Marquette ASME. The rocket will be flying to 1000 ft and then deploying an 8 pound GEM upon landing. The GEM will be using LIDAR to find it's way across the launch site, exploring the ground and trying to get as far away from the rocket as possible. A prototype of the GEM will be coming in a few weeks to test the LIDAR system.
This week, the team decided to mix things up a bit and focus on some new tasks. One team was focused on how to release the GEM from the rocket. The team is focusing on using a parachute to pull the GEM away from the rocket body, and then use a clamp to release the parachute cord upon landing so that the GEM can begin it's excursion. The other team was focusing on making the electronics of the rocket accessible. In years past, the electronics bay has been inserted in the rocket and sealed using epoxy. This year, the team would like to make the electronics bay accessible just in case anything malfunctions. The current design is to place the electronics bay right below the nose cone in a dedicated bulk head.
This competition is quite the challenge, but we're really excited about the way it's going so far. The rocket body is still a work in progress, trying to maximize weight and stability by adjusting the nose cone and rocket length. The GEM is looking more and more like a tank and we're hoping to have a final design soon. It looks like a lot of the GEM could be 3D printed!
With the Body team off for the week, the Electronics team and Payload team continued work on the GEM. Dimensions of the GEM are beginning to take shape, and the search for parts has begun. With the rough terrain at the launch site, the team is planning on using sprockets to grip the ground. The Electronics team continues testing on a sensor that will allow the GEM to see any obstacles in it's path, and adjust course without any human input.
Parts are already starting to fly in the door! The Electronics team has been working with an Arduino Uno to wire a LIDAR sensor to use in the GEM. The LIDAR will be used to determine if an object is in the way of the GEM while roaming the ground. The Body team has narrowed the design of the rocket body. The target is to have a 7.5in body tube, big enough to fit a GEM, but small enough to reach 1000ft in the air. The Payload team has begun modeling components that will make up the GEM. The first goal is to complete necessary components such as a camera and the LIDAR, then finalize the rest of the GEM.
It was a great day to design a rocket! The Payload team had a busy day full of brainstorming so secretive, we can't even post pictures here. Lot's of great ideas were coming out, and a few will be progressing to the next stage to determine how feasible they are. The Body team continues on coming up with new body designs by the minute. This could be our largest rocket ever while the team determines if we can get a 12in. diameter rocket to fly 1000ft in the air! The Electronics team was practicing how to wire an Arduino Uno, and send code from a computer. It will be exciting to see all of the sensors that will be on the GEM!
With the game announced, the team was able to break up into 3 sub-teams: Body, Payload, and Electronics. The Body team will be in charge of designing the rocket to reach the target altitude, and ensure it is stable enough to fly straight. The Payload team will be in charge of designing and deploying the Ground Excursion Module (GEM). Their main focus will be to design a robust GEM while also keeping the weight low. The Electronics team will be in charge of ensuring the rocket's altimeter is functioning correctly, and the electronics that allows the GEM to function independently. All 3 teams are busy at work as we want to get the rocket done as soon as possible to be able to test it.
The competition has finally been announced, and we're pumped! This year, we will be exploring the grounds of the Richard Bong Recreation Area using our very own Ground Excursion Module(GEM) upon landing. Tonight's meeting was full of discussion of how to properly land and launch the GEM out of the fallen rocket. Another big issue: how to navigate the treacherous ground at the launch site. With many ponds and trees in the area, we are in for quite the challenge. If you're interested to learn more about this challenge, you can find the WSGC rule book below.
This week, it was all about learning how to design a rocket and launch it into space. We may not make it to space, but we'll still make an awesome rocket. Hayes, our fearless team lead, introduced the rocket team to OpenRocket, a design software that allows us to model and simulate a rocket launch to determine maximum height and rocket stability. We broke down last years rocket and remodeled it in OpenRocket to learn how the program works and design some rockets of our own!
Still no announcement on this year's competition, but that doesn't mean we can't get our hands on a rocket. This week, we took out last year's rocket and disassembled it. Members were able to see some of the internal components and assembly processes that it takes to build a rocket. Once everyone was familiar with the rocket, we broke up into 3 teams: Electronics, Payload, and Body. Stay tuned for the announcement of the competition so we can get to work building rockets!
It's great to have everyone back and excited to blow some stuff up! Even though the competition hasn't been announced yet, we've still been hard at work prepping for the year. We got to know each other a little bit better, introduce members to past competitions, and talk about the sub-teams for the year. This is going to be a great year!
Rocket team is currently working on recruiting new members, filling sub-teams, and training everyone in the varying aspects of Rocket Construction to be ready for the release of this year's competition. We are also preparing for our safety demo flight and the educational outreach portion of the competition. We look forward to improving upon our previous performances and establish a strong competitive team for years to come.
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Team LeadsNicole Biskner & Nathen Schollaert Archives
May 2019
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