Low Cost Altimeter With Servo Deploy!

U.S. Water Rockets is pleased to announce the release of the LaunchPad AlTImeter, the Model Rocket Altimeter that you build yourself using the FREE plans and software that are available for download on our website!   

 

 

 

The LaunchPad AlTImeter was designed to meet the needs specific to both Pyro Rockets and Water Rockets,  and it is packed it with useful features.  Even so, the designers worked tirelessly to keep the project cost very low!  

 

 

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Some of the main features of the LaunchPad AlTImeter design include:

• Peak Altitude Report (up to > 32,000 feet)
• <1 foot (30 cm) Altitude Resolution
• Automatic Apogee Detection with Deploy Trigger Outputs
• Configurable Deploy Output Polarity
• Configurable Deploy Delay
• Automatic Launch Detection detects slow acceleration  (small nozzle water rockets)
• Direct Servo Deploy Driver Output
• ~3.3V Digital Deploy Output
• Visual and Audio Feedback
• Low Power Texas Instruments MSP430 Microcontroller Core
• Low Cost
• Easy to build (Extensive Documentation on USWaterRockets.com)
• Free Plans and Software Downloads
• Operates from 3.7VDC to 10.0VDC (Max 6.0VDC if Servo is used)
• Weekly Tutorial and Demonstration Videos (Click Here to Subscribe)

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To keep the cost to the end user as low as possible, we chose the Texas Instruments MSP430 LaunchPad development board as the core for the platform, and added a few simple components to create a very easy to build project.  By using the MSP430 LaunchPad as a starting point, we have provided a path for those who are using our previously released ServoChron Servo Timer system to upgrade to a fully functional peak recording altimeter with servo motor deploy.

 

To lean more about the LaunchPad AlTImeter and find out how to make your own, please visit the new section of our website: Click here for the LaunchPad AlTImeter Documentation.

 

Enjoy!

Water Rocket Chase Camera Mark II

We've just posted an update to our Water Rocket Chase Camera Project which shows how we repaired and improved the Chase Camera Pod that was destroyed in the collision with the Rocket Thrust Water Column in the first part of the project.  The new design was modified so that it would avoid meeting its demise in the same way, and we achieved some success in preventing the damage with the new style Chase Camera design, while obtaining some amazing exterior footage of the rocket through the entire flight.

The project update is available on our website at: http://www.uswaterrockets.com/research_&_development/chase_camera/report.htm and the video for the new update is on our YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nlwjnlZe6I.

Don't forget that our Big Announcement is only 2 days away. You're not going to want to miss this one!

All New Parachute Deployment System Tutorial

Anyone who builds and flies rockets knows how frustrating it can be when the recovery system malfunctions, and the rocket does a swan dive into the Earth. This almost always results in the total loss of the rocket, and anything that was aboard the rocket at the time.  We decided to change all that.

The loss of the rocket itself can be quite painful, as some rockets are made from many bottles and a great deal of time was spent carefully joining them together. The loss of payload can mean an expensive micro camera or altimeter will need to be replaced. But the loss of the deploy system itself is perhaps the most frustrating result, since the commonly available deploy system plans are very time consuming to build.

Chances are that anyone building a Water Rocket Parachute Deployment system went on the internet and downloaded one of the many designs that have evolved from Robert Youens original Horizontal Deploy system, created over a decade ago. Back in those days Water Rocketry was in its infancy and parachute deployment was very primitive. The Youens HDTT system broke new ground and was a major step forward in reliability.

The idea was such an improvement on prior work that it became a de-facto standard and has been copied by many people, with only slight tweaks to personalize the design. The core idea has been copied so many times, yet the only refinements that seem to have been made are cosmetic changes adding complexity to the build that make it more difficult and time consuming and less reliable.

After witnessing the frustrations people were having building these increasingly complex plans circulating the internet, we decided it was time to start over and come up with a clean slate approach that was more reliable, since we wanted a high reliability system for some expensive experimental payloads we plan on launching.

We eventually developed a new concept that is extremely reliable and turned out to be much easier and less costly to make than any other system ever devised. We have named out new parachute system the U.S. Water Rockets Radial Parachute Deploy System.

We have recently completed a complete new tutorial that shows how we developed and built this new system, but we also have documented how the system works, and how it can be adapted to multiple types of water rocket designs.

The new tutorial can be viewed at the following link:
U.S. Water Rockets Radial Parachute Deploy Tutorial