Space Club RIT, Islampur

Space Club,
CIIED
(Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Development),
Rajarambapu Institute of Technology, Islampur.

PROJECT NAME : Experimental Payload Launch Vehicle 1.1

REPORT BY Space Club, RIT

Space Club RIT, Islampur

Nomenclature
Cg – the center of gravity
Cp – the center of pressure
E-bay – electronic bay

OBC: On-Board Computer System

BMP: Barometric pressure sensor
RPI: raspberry pi
Space Club RIT, Islampur

ABSTRACT:
As rocket launches, it is important to recover it. The recovered rocket can be used for the next
upcoming mission which will save money and give safety to electronic components and
humans too. In upcoming missions aim is to reach 3km it is important to test different
systems like recovery mechanisms, electronic components, etc.
This rocket was designed with the help of software named Open Rocket. The software
provides all the necessary components to design a rocket. The motor is made up of solid fuel
which contains a mixture of sugar and KNO3 (potassium nitrate). And Arduino UNO,
BMP280, MPU 6050 sensors were used to collect the data.
After launch rocket recovered successfully with a single parachute mechanism. Data from
sensors were stored on the SD card. As a result, all systems worked properly and the rocket
reached its desired height which was nearer to the estimated height i.e. 1km.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

INDEX

Sr. Name Page

Number
1 Introduction 7
2 Mission 8
3 Theory 8
3. Structure 9
1
3.1.1 Material Used 9
3.1.2 Material selection 9
3.1.3 Design 14
3.1.4 Calculations and simulations 15
3. Propulsion & Control 16
2
3.2.1 Material used 18
3.2.2 Casing 19
3.3.3 Methodology 20
3.3.4 Impulse Calculation 21
3.3.5 Advancement 21
3. Avionics 22
3
3.3.1 Hardware Description 22
3.3.2 Testing 25
3.3.3 Advancement 26
3. Ignition 27
4
3.4.1 Material Used 27
3.4.2 Methodology 27
3.4.3 Testing 30
3.4.4 Advancement 30
3. Deployment 31
5
3.5.1 Hardware 31
Space Club RIT, Islampur

3.5.2 Methodology 34
3.5.3 Experimental Testing 35
3.5.4 Advancement 37
3. Recovery 38
6
3.6.1 Material Used 38
3.6.2 Methodology 38
3.6.3 Experimental testing 42
3.6.4 Advancement 42
4 Mission Concept of Operation 43
5 Result & discussion 44
6 Conclusion 45
7 Appendix 46
1 Code for Arduino UNO and sensors 46
2 Code for Ignition System 49
3 Embedded C for PIC18f4520 52
8 Reference 57
Space Club RIT, Islampur

Table of Contents:
Part -I
1. Nomenclature
2. Introduction
3. Airframe and Design.
Part -II
1. Graphs and Simulation
2. Calculations.
Part -III
1. Future Mission/s.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

Introduction:
The structure subsystem of the rocket includes all parts which make up the
frame of the rocket, nose cone, and control fins. The function of the structure subsystem is to
provide low aerodynamic drag for flight through the atmosphere. In flight, a rocket is
subjected to four forces; weight, thrust, and aerodynamic forces lift and drag. The thrust force
is to move the rocket through air, it acts in an upward direction. The weight acts in the
downward direction, it acts in opposition to weight. The drag is the forehatch that acts
opposite to the motion the of rocket it simply means aerodynamic resistance to the motion of
the object through the fluid.in model rocketry, the drag should be minimum to reach the
desired height. The lift force is used to stabilize and control the direction of flight it acts
perpendicular to the direction of motion. these are various forces which act during flight.
Rocket structures must be strong but lightweight for the performance of the
rocket. For this purpose, selection of good materials is the most important thing in
model rocketry. The distribution of the structural weight also affects the centre of
gravity. For stable flight, the centre of pressure(cp) should be behind the centre of
gravity. This is done by attaching fins to the rocket. The shape of fins can be decided
by their ease of manufacturing and the drag force.
Trapezoidal, clipped delta, and elliptical are some common types of shapes in model
rocketry.
The nose cone is the forwardmost section of the rocket. The best shape for the
nose can be decided by using the drag coefficient. conic, parabola, and tangent ogive
the most used shapes for the nose cone. The motor mounting assembly is the
mounting of the motor using centre rings which are used to hold the motor in the body
tube. Open rocket software and rocksim are the software on which simulations can be
performed for complete flight. It gives all data related to motor grades and their
specifications, apogee time, apogee, max velocity and acceleration, static margin,
flight time and various graphs which give all results from which we can predict flight.
The structure subsystem performs a very crucial role in maintaining a stable
flight.

Role of structure subsystem

1. Rocket should be stable during overall flight.

2. assemble different parts of the rocket together.
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Airframe and design

 Materials and Dimensions used

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Parts and their Purpose

1. Nose Cone: Material Used: PLA: Type:- Ogive
An ogive nose cone has a profile that is a segment of a circle. The shape parameter value 1
produces a tangent ogive, which has a smooth transition to the body tube, values less than
1 produce secant ogives.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

Decision matrix for Nose cone shape selection

Nose Cd Max Max Max Mach Stability Manufactured

cone value altitude velocity acceleration no
Process used
shape
Ogive 0.03 869 171 133 0.50 2.33 3 d printing
Conic 0.08 854 169 133 0.50 2.44 Cardboard
Ellipsoid 0.06 857 170 133 0.50 2.32
Parabolic 0.03 870 171 133 0.50 2.37

1. Body Tube: Material used: PVC

The body tube forms the main body of the model rocket and holds the nose cone (the tip of
the rocket) in place. The rocket fins at the bottom of the rocket provide stability during
flight. A launch lug is attached to the body tube near the centre of gravity for the rocket.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

2. 3. Fins body: Material used: PP sheets:

The tube forms the main body of the model rocket and holds the nose cone (the tip of the
rocket) in place. The rocket fins at the bottom of the rocket provide stability during flight.
A launch lug is attached to the body tube near the centre of gravity for the rocket. There
are 4 clamps and 8 nut bolts to attach 4 fins at a proper position
Fin assembly and alignment

1. first of all, take a blank white paper make four equal parts of blank paper by calculating
circumferences.
2. Now according to thickness of fins mark lines on body tube.

3. make a drill in body tube of required sized and with the help of clamp adjust fins.

4. make sure that all the fins are at 90 degrees with each other and at the proper position.

4. Bulkhead

It is a composite of wood and aluminium to give sufficient strength which is

attached to the eye bolt. The eye bolt having a nut at the centre which is welded with ring.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

5 E bay
The purpose of making E- bay is to provide sufficient strength to the electronic component
and add some part of weight to the upper side so that stability is achieved. Design is done on
AutoCAD. For manufacturing simplicity and to obtain high accuracy we decided to go with
laser cutting. Wood is selected as it is easily available, has low cost, is lightweight, good
machinability. The slot is made on the wall for connecting wire with Arduino. The threaded
screw which is connected with the U bolt and both the bulkhead provides extra strength to E-
the bay.

Advantage:
1. Reusable.
2. Increase safety factor of the electronic module.
3. Simple design.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

6. Stability:
Static and Dynamic Stability
1. Static Stability
Static flight stability occurs when the corrective torques induced by the rocket’s body and
fins are sufficient enough to counter deviations in the rocket’s angle of attack. A good
Space Club RIT, Islampur

yardstick to adhere to is the Barrowman rule of thumb which states that the rocket’s CG is
greater than one body diameter in front of the rocket’s CP. To
achieve static stability, we can follow an approach:
● Determine rocket body length for DTF by defining a package size for every subassembly
● Implement a detailed CAD model to extract weight and CG
● Choose arbitrary fin size and determine the CP computationally
● Iteratively adapt fin size to ensure a static stability margin of 1 to 2 calibres
● Perform flight simulations in Open Rocket
A virtual model of the rocket was created in Open Rocket - an off-the-shelf simulation for
model rocketry. The static margin plot in Stability Plots shows the minimum stability margin
for the flight obtained in Open Rocket when using the input dimensions and weights.
However, Open Rocket is a black box -meaning it does not model the rocket's Inertia
accurately and does not allow us to observe and adapt how aerodynamic coefficients and
forces are calculated.
Dynamic Stability:
Small disturbances cause the rocket to leave its theoretical trajectory, changing the angle of
attack. Fins then induce a corrective moment to restore the original attitude. During this, the
rocket may overshoot and therefore tends to oscillate in the form of a nutation. In order to
minimize oscillations and ensure dynamic stability Mandell proposes a damping ratio
between 0.05 and 0.30. throughout the flight. This indicates that the rocket will likely
undergo some nutation’s upon leaving the launch rail which will rapidly decrease during the
flight. This is reinforced as the static stability margin comes into play as the rocket reaches
the critical velocity for stable flight. Larger fins may be suggested to counteract these effects.

Appendix II

1. GRAPHS
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2. Stability vs Time

Simulation stability vs time

 Vertical motion vs Time

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 Stability vs altitude
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 Drag coefficient vs Mach number

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BarrowMans Equation calculation:

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Space Club RIT, Islampur
Space Club RIT, Islampur
Space Club RIT, Islampur
Space Club RIT, Islampur
Space Club RIT, Islampur
Space Club RIT, Islampur

Future Plans :
1. To achieve a 2 km apogee with a system to collect particles from the atmosphere.
2. To change airframe and Fin fixture
3. To develop Aerodynamic Modelling of Next Rocket.

Refrences

1. https://www.nakka-rocketry.net/
2. https://www.apogeerockets.com/
3. https://www.nasa.gov/
4. Astrojay Technical report.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

Propulsion and Control:-

J class motor of EPLV-1

Need Statement :
Preparing solid propellant motor for EPLV-1
Model Rocket of proposed height up to appogee about
1 km and also manufacturing suitable casing .

Some Specification of Motor -:

Fuel Sugar (35%)

Oxidizer KNO3
Propellent Mass 600 gm
Chamber Length 245 mm
Chamber diagram 47.9 mm
Nozzle throat diagram 13 mm
Nozzle exit diagram 31.05 mm
Grain Diagram 47 mm
Grain Length 68 mm
Grain core diagram 13.25
No of segments 3
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METHODOLOGY
 For preparing solid motor ,using meteor software in purpose to therotical
calculation , grain dimension , nozzle dimension and propellant grain dimension
and fuel oxidizer as input
 Through this software we can able to get mass of propellant ,theoretical value of
value of impulse ,chamber pressure thrust , burn time etc.
 Then we made three grains with fuel to oxidizer ratio of 35:65 using caramelization
process.
 Then kept grains in combustion chamber , afterwards we attach nozzle at the exit of
combustion chamber.
Impulse calculation

Graph obtained from static test gives calculation of total area under the curve ,
(As Loadcell provide spring displacement with spring stiffness you could get
thrust vs time curve) The area provide total impulse calculates sp. Impulse
(sp.impulseis parameter of efficiency of motor, higher the sp impulse better
the motor)
Sp.impulse = total impulse /weight of fuel

Maximum thrust can be calculated by finding maximum spike in thrust vs time

curve
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CONCLUSION

After static test we get following data

TEST 1 TEST 2 THEROTICAL
RESULT RESULT VALUES
(METEOR)
J Class motor J Class motor J Class motor

Burn time 1.49 s 2.23 s 1.5 s

Max thrust 899 N 1227 N 534.98 N

Total impulse 803.04 Ns 1050.4 Ns 708.01 Ns

Specific impulse 136.43 s 178.46 s 123.49 s

Space Club RIT, Islampur

The difference between values of two tests is due to difference between

storage time of propellent and performance will be less From the above result we can
conclude that the performance we got from motor is satisfactory.

Avionics:-

Ignition:-
Ignition system performs the work of igniting the rocket motor of any type and grade (using
flame of spark).

REQIREMENT :-

COMPONENT RATING QUANTITY

ARDUINO UNO - 1
LEAD ACID BATTERY 12V,5v 1,1
NICHROME WIRE 0.292mm 2cm
JUMPER WIRE - 20
WIRE - 1m
BLUETOOTH MODULE HC-05 1
RELAY MODULE 5V 1
CORCODILE CLIPS - 2
Space Club RIT, Islampur

NICHROME
5V BATTERY WIRE

BLUETOOTH ARDUINO UNO RELAY MODULE

MODULE

MOBILE USED
AS TRIGGER 12V Battery

CONNECTION :-
1. Making the connection by having a common ground and power the Bluetooth and
relay module the 5V is taken from the Arduino.
2. Arduino is powered by the 5v battery but here a motor diver is used to get the
required power.
3. Relay com and NC is connected to the nichrome wire that is the igniter connected in
series with the 12v battery.
4. For the connection refer the below connection diagram.

WORKING :-
1. The mobile is used as a trigger for the igniter.
2. The mobile sends the data to the Bluetooth module.
3. Module then sends the Arduino UNO signal.
4. The Arduino sends the relay triggering signal to may the relay switch on and igniter
works.

ARDUINO CODE :-

char val;
Space Club RIT, Islampur

void setup(){
pinMode(13,OUTPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
digitalWrite(13,HIGH);
}

void loop(){

if(Serial.available()){

val = Serial.read();
Serial.println(val);
}

if(val=='1'){

digitalWrite(13,LOW);
}

else if(val=='2'){

digitalWrite(13,HIGH);
}

delay(100);

}
CONNECTION :-
Space Club RIT, Islampur

REFERENCE :-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eFW_4HKhys

Deployment:
When the rocket reaches its apogee, it begins to accelerate rapidly towards the
ground. As a result, to manage the rocket's speed, we employ a parachute recovery system to
slow down the rocket's speed and lessen the rocket's impact after colliding with the ground.

The difficulty now is how to open the parachute at the precise moment. As a result, we're
utilizing a deployment system to precisely time the parachute's opening.

This subsystem plays a major role in checking the rocket is ignited and opening the
parachute by switching ON the MOSFET switch for ejection charges at a predefined time.

Hardware Description: Hardware is the most visible part of any system while selecting any
component we have to take care of many things such as power consumption, temperature,
operating voltage to avoid issues
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Testing:

1. PIC18f4520:- PIC microcontrollers are extensively used for industrial purpose due to low
power consumption, high performance ability and easy of availability of its supporting
hardware and software tools like compilers, debuggers and simulators .Also PIC
microcontroller based on RISC architecture so it is easy to program for different.

Program Memory Type – flash

Program Memory Size (KB) – 32
● CPU Speed (MIPS/DMIPS) – 10
SRAM (B) – 1536
Temperature Range (°C) - -40 to
● Operating Voltage Range (V) – 2 to 5.5
● Pin Count – 40
● Timers - 1x 8-bit, 3 x 16-bit
● ADC Input - 13 ch, 10-bit
● Capture/Compare/PWM Peripherals - 1 CCP, 1
● Digital Communication Peripherals - 1-UART, 1-SPI, 1-I2C
● Data EEPROM/HEF (bytes) – 256
● Capture/Compare/PWM Peripherals - 1 CCP, 1 EC

● Digital Communication Peripherals - 1-UART, 1-SPI, 1-I2C

● Data EEPROM/HEF (bytes) – 256

Fig Pin Structure of PIC

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Fig 18 Rating of PIC

Hardware Interrupt:

Interrupts are the signals which alter the flow of an executing program by causing the
microcontroller to jump to the Interrupt Service Routine to serve to interrupt.

These interrupts are given to the microcontroller unit through external pins of the
microcontroller. In this project, the external interrupt act as a triggering system for Timer
operation. For EPLV-1, it is used for the microcontroller to know that ignition started and the
rocket is ascending upwards. This leads the controller to start the timer routine for the
opening of the parachute.Initially, the pin is made logic HIGH by using a pull-down resistor
circuit. When the rocket gets ignited after the rocket ascends the short-circuited jumper wire
is pulled down and the interrupt pin goes to logic LOW and the interrupt routine is called by
the microcontroller.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

MOFET SWITCH:

MOSFETs exhibit three regions of operation viz., Cut-off, Linear or Ohmic, and
Saturation. Among these, when MOSFETs are to be used as amplifiers, they are required to
be operated in their ohmic region wherein the current through the device increases with an
increase in the applied voltage.
On the other hand, when the MOSFETs are required to function as switches, they
should be biased in such a way that they alter between cut-off and saturation states. This is
because, in the cut-off region, there is no current flow through the device while in the
Space Club RIT, Islampur

saturation region there will be a constant amount of current flowing through the device, just
mimicking the behavior of an open and closed switch, respectively.
This functionality of MOSFETs is exploited in many electronic circuits as they offer
higher switching rates when compared to BJTs (bipolar junction transistors).

Mosfet Switch Circuit Diagram

3.5.2 Methodology:

1. Proper selection of microcontrollers that will be reliable and efficient. As the

microcontroller must be able to outstand the different difficulties it will face while
flight example – vibration, air pressure, external mechanical forces, etc.
2. A interrupt routine for enabling the timers in the microcontroller.
3. When the apogee is reached, the MOSFET switch will be ON after the predefined
time for triggering ejection charges.

3.5.3 Experimental Testing:

Before implementing the circuit in the rocket various testing were done. Initially, the
MOSFET switching code was uploaded for testing them. After that interrupt routine code with pull-
Space Club RIT, Islampur

down resistor interrupt circuit was implemented with timer code. Finally, taking the combination of
interrupt, MOSFET switch, timer code then uploading it in PIC18f4520 using PICkit.

Fig.Testing of the system

PCB Designing: A printed circuit board (PCB) is mechanically supports and electrically
connects electronic components using conductive tracks, pads and other feathers etched from
copper sheets laminated onto a non- conductive substrate.
For EPLV 1.1 we are design PCB. the purpose of design PCB was
electronics components fit properly and reduce the size of E-Bay. also, to understand the
circuit properly.to design PCB we use the DIPTRACE software. using the DIPTRACE we
are creating first circuit diagram (schematic design) and convert into PCB layout

Steps for PCB desining-

Step 1 :- Design the PCB circuit using DIPTRACE software.
Step 2:-Film generation.
Step3:- select row material.
Step 4:- Preparing drill holes.
Step 5:-Apply Image.
.Step 6 :- Etching.
Step 7:- Testing
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Fig. circuit diagram of PCB

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Fig. After etching process PCB board

Future advancement in deployment:-
1)Deployment using MPU6050 and gyroscope.
2)Make a mechanism for deployment after recovery of rocket. Rocket
stand on his leg.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

Recovery subsystem :
One of the major goal in model rocketry is to safely recover a rocket after it has been
launched. The other objectives are to collect the data from Avionics, to reduce the cost of
future projects that is to be reused.
“We can’t celebrate the success of our launch until the success of recovery”
A recovery system is defined as any device that is incorporated into the model rocket
to return it safely to the ground. Recovery systems work by inducing an upward drag force
due to the shape of parachute to overcome the force of gravity and subsequently cause the
rocket to slowly descend.
For this launch, we specially used ‘Body separation method’ using ejection charge
with the help of Avionics.
One of the biggest challenges of flying model rockets is to successfully recover the
rocket.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

Materials:-
1. Parachute: It is made up of nylon material having an octagon shape and having a
diameter of 115 cm. Due to maximum use of parachute it was get damaged so for safety
one elastic strip is stitched by offsetting some distance from perimeter.

1. Strings: There were 8 strings connected to the parachute. All strings are of same size of
silk threads. Each length of string is 1m.

2. Shock chord: For balancing the length of strings and to absorb some amount of stress
shock chords are used. There were two types of shock chords are used in EPLV 1.1, one
is made up of rubber and another one
was fully worked cotton string.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

1. Gun powder: Gun powder used in this system was extracted from bombs of fireworks
and used in a quantity of 3 gm (Quantity of gun powder is decided by trial and error
method by experimenting) per ejection charge.

2. Electrical sleeve: It was used for a casing for ejection charge. It is made up of
Polyolefin and gets shrink when get heated up.

1. Bulb filament: The purpose of bulb filament was to heat up and to trigger the ejection
charge.
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2.Piston: Piston was made up of cardboard pipe and foam material. It purpose is to deploy
the parachute
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2. Heat resistance tape: It was wounded to the strings of the upper part (EBay part) of the
rocket to resist the heating of strings from blast of ejection charge.

3. Hair conditioner: It was applied over the heat resistance tape to reduce the heat that
caused to string.

4. Eye-Nut: It is used to knot the shock cord and strings to the upper part (E-Bay) of the
rocket

5.U-Bolt: It is used to knot the lower part of the rocket which contains the motor of rocket.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

Methodology :
Method used for EPLV-1.1 was body separation using ejection charge ( Collaborated
with Avionics) for deployment of single parachute.
The main focus was on the ejection charge.
1. Process contains checking of a blub by connecting it to a 9V battery to verify its
condition whether it was good or bad, if good then fix it with Feviquick then again
check and then broke the glass of bulb which fillament was in good condition.
2. cut the electrical sleeve of length approximately 5cm .
3. inserted the bulb in the sleeve and shrink it by using a hot gun
4. After that insert gun powder of weight 3gm in sleeve.
5. Then cover the upper head of the sleeve by using glue gun and shrink it by using
hot gun.
6. connect external extended wire to the bulb wire

7. Connect external extended wire to E-bey.

8. Fit the ejection charge with E-bey by using glue gun.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

9. Eye nut was present between two ejection charge as shown in fig and shock chord
was connected to the eye nut using a knot.

10. Another shock cord was connected to the bulk head which was present above
motor
11. Both shock chords were connected to the parachute string by using a knot.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

12. There was piston present between parachute and ejection charge to push the
parachute downward whenever bursting an ejection charge

13. Heat resistance tape was wounded around the shock chord of the upper part of
rocket and conditioner applied on it. (To reduce the tear of shock chord caused
due to ejection charge bursting)
Experimental Tests :
1. Coefficient of drag of parachute.
2. String capacity test.
3. Ejection charge test.
4. Body tube separation test.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

5. Damage test for body tube and shock chord and parachute too
6. Exhaust leakage test

Future plans :
Duel deployment.
Mechanical deployment method
Chemical deployment method
Helicopter recovery.
Separate deployment for E-Bay and other body.
Multifunctionality parachute.
Satellites deployment
Easy assembly

Keywords :
EPLV – experimental payload launch vehicle
PVC – polyvinyl chloride

Special Thank to;

Space Club RIT, Islampur

Mandar Shinde & Praphul Kharat

(Recovery subsystem members)

Reference:-
Old EPLV 1.1 Report.
Space Club RIT, Islampur

Students work on EPLV 1.1-

NAME SUBSYSTEM MOB. NO.

.Ubale Rushikesh Structure 8010831392

Bandagar Shubham Uttam Motor 8626085950

Shinde Ashutosh Santosh Avionics 9112069696
Nikam Sanket Indrajit Ignition 8530536695

Sutar Vishal Uttam Recovery 8431529950