September - October 2024

Dev Log 21

Project Update - September 2024

Began working on the hardware for the TVC rocket this month. Got the airframe tubes, and designed and 3D printed the nosecone. Also did some integration tests of the TVC mount. (figs 1,2).

fig 1 - TVC rocket dev version 1

fig 1 - TVC rocket dev version 2

Also got all the launchpad computers fabricated from JLCPCB, threw in a small RFM69 breakout for TFAC and also some more TFAC r3 in purple this time (fig 3)!

fig 3 - launch computers, TFAC, RFM69 breakout

Put together the launch remote, and it works great. I was worried about how well I shielded the telemetry radio's antenna, but it looks like it works nominally (fig 4).

fig 4 - Pad remote computer fully assembled

Project Update - October 2024

This month I turned the Pad Remote PCB to an actual remote. My idea for this was a 3D printed enclosure with several buttons - key switch for arming the system, flick switch for putting the system in a hold, green push button for resetting the countdown, a big red button for launching the rocket (because obviously), and a 7 segment display to display the countdown sequence (fig 5).

fig 5 - Initial designs

Implementing the design in CAD was rather straightforward, everything translated from paper to CAD quite easily. The only thing I had to change was add a bump at the bottom of the case because the key switch was too long to fit in the case with a LiPo at the bottom (figs 6-9).

fig 6 - CAD of the pad remote

fig 7 - pad remote internals

fig 8 - pad remote fully built

fig 9 - a mess of wires and hot glue on the inside

Finally I wrote some software with all the switches performing their real actions.

Pad remote working