This Overkill Briefcase Rocket Launcher Means Business

If you’ve ever made and flown a model rocket, you may have used an electronic igniter where you push in a key and press a button, activating a wired starter. This is all well and good, but high schooler Eddy Robinson needed something better for an epic rocketry project that he’s been working on for the last six months.

What he came up with is a portable launcher built into a Pelican-style case, that includes all the buttons and switches that could want for model rocket control. It also looks great aesthetics-wise, which is what Robinson really cared about.

The device runs on Arduino Mega, concealed under the carbon fiber vinyl wrapped control surface. On top is a key switch for security, along with a keypad and a 16x2 LCD screen for user feedback. An emergency stop button wired into the same circuit as the key switch to quickly abort a launch.

Other implements include a toggle for either wireless operation via an nRF24L01 transceiver or wired control via to-be-installed banana jacks. There’s even a switch for launch pneumatics and a trio of shielded “missile launch” triggers for various options. Finally, arm and launch buttons start the countdown sequence, sending the craft into space… or at least high into the air!

You can see more about this awesomely overkill control module in the video below. Such a setup could be used for a variety of purposes beyond rocketry, so it could be good inspiration for your next airborne or even Earth-bound build!