Model Rocketry Datalogging

Asteria Aerospace launches multiple-engine rocket with datalogging using an Adafruit Feather M0, BNO085 IMU, and BMP390 sensor.

Jeremy Cook
3 years ago

While you may have played with model rocket kits growing up and/or as an adult, Asteria Aerospace's rocket setup takes things to a new heights. For thrust, the vehicle features a mounting arrangement that can accommodate up to four solid fuel motors, and in the video below, it’s using two. Even this presents some challenges, however, as one motor ignites before the other, leading to a rather poor flight in which the parachute did not deploy.

Even without a parachute deployed to slow it down, rocket did survive the ordeal with little more than a broken fin, and it was able to attain a maximum altitude of 183.36 feet, with a maximum thrust of 3.4Gs. The next rocket will reportedly use a single engine for thrust, so it won’t have this sort of “sequential ignition” issue.

Rocket stats were recorded with a Adafruit Feather M0 Adalogger on an SD card, utilizing a BMP390 temperature and barometric sensor along with a BNO085 IMU. Holes were formed into the nosecone for airflow, to allow for accurate temperature and pressure readings.

More details on this rocketry program cane be found on Asteria Aerospace's website as well as on their YouTube channel. You can see flight data analysis here, plus rocket footage from several angles in the clip below.

Jeremy Cook
Engineer, maker of random contraptions, love learning about tech. Write for various publications, including Hackster!
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