OUR PROJECT
Skip to a section:
Our project involves the creation of an autonomous rover that will be ejected from a rocket built by UCF students in various Senior Design groups.
Please continue reading (or skip to a particular section) to find a general overview on different aspects of our project. For more detailed information on specific topics, please take a look at our blog posts.
WHAT IS SENIOR DESIGN?
UCF seniors spend two semesters working with their peers and advisors to create many different types of projects. Some of these projects are multi-disciplinary, including ours. Our project includes one mechanical engineering student, one computer engineering student, and four computer science students. These fields of study are all necessary for our the design, build, and programming of our project.
Advisors:
Computer Science
Dr. Mark Heinrich – heinrich@ucf.edu
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dr. Lei Wei – lei.wei@ucf.edu
Dr. Sam Richie – richie@ucf.edu
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Mr. Kurt Stresau – Kurt.Stresau@ucf.edu
Dr. Mark Steiner – Mark.Steiner@ucf.edu
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Felix Soto Toro - Felix@UCF.edu
More information regarding UCF senior design can be found at:
https://www.cecs.ucf.edu/senior-design-hub/
WHAT IS FAR 1030/AEROJET?
FAR stands for Friends of Amateur Rocketry, Inc. They are an organization that promotes STEM education and advancement. One of the ways they do this is through competitions, or launch contests, including the one we are competing in, called FAR 1030-5R.
This competition involves building and launching a rocket up to either 10,000 or 30,000 feet, that will deploy a removable payload. It will be held at the FAR launch site, located North of Edwards AirForce Base and near the Mojave Desert. The competition accepts many different types of payloads that are all being built by UCF students in senior design. Within this course the senior design groups are participating in an internal competition to decide which payload team joins the two rocket-building teams in the FAR competition.
Our project submission is being funded and advised by Aerojet Rocketdyne Coleman Aerospace. They are providing $40,000 of initial funding for design proposals. They also are providing availability to meet with students for collaboration.
Competition Scoring:
Scoring:
– 1 point is awarded for every foot altitude to the target altitude (10,000/30,000) ft
– 1 point will be deducted for each foot over the target (10,000/30,000) ft. altitude entry class
Scoring Bonuses:
– 2,000 points of experimental solid (non-COTS) motor
– 3,000 points for use of experimental hybrid motor
– 4,000 points for use of bi-propellant liquid motor
– 1,000 points for using a 2-stage rocket (available only for 30,000 ft. altitude entry class)
– 500 points for designing and constructing a nose cone that successfully carries a minimum 50 ml of water and safely releases the water at or after apogee to be dispersed in the air
– Point bonuses for payload selection:
• Remotely Radio Controlled Rover – 1000 points
• Autonomous Rover – 3000 points
• Remote Sensing – 500 points
• Remote Sensing II – 1000 points
• Reconnaissance – 1000 points
• Reconnaissance II – 2000 points
• Video stored on memory card – 500 points
Judging:
– Live video must be witnessed by a judge to be valid, or video must be recorded at ground launch area receiving station
Deliverables:
– Preliminary Design Review (PDR), 1st week of January 2022
• Schedule for Remaining Activities
– Flight Readiness Review (FRR), 2nd week of April 2022
• As-demonstrated itemized budget spreadsheet
• Lessons Learned
– Customer Demonstration: Early June 2022
• Email Open Rocket file to FAR competition hosts no later than May 2022
• FAR fees/waivers
• One page rocket specification sheet with selection payload options indicated
– Motor type (COTS or experimental). Solid, liquid, or hybrid
– Motor class and total impulse
– Total weight and length of rocket
– Launch Rail Requirement
– Altimeter/Flight Computer Used
– Payload description, weight, and ballast weight
– Tracking Type
– Video transmission Frequency
– Contact information (must also be installed on/in rocket)
WHAT ARE WE MAKING?
Our team is building a rover payload that will be held in a rocket to be deployed in the FAR 1030-5R competition. This requires our team to additionally build a sled and a canister that will contain our rover.
Our rover will be required to use our own on-board power in order to function, have the the ability to withstand 8 G’s of force and heat from the rocket’s ejection event, and include a parachute attachment for use during deployment. Once it lands, it will need to locate the launch pad and return to it while displaying live video.
Autonomous Rover (ECE)
– Rover that autonomously returns to designated launch pad with live
video
Specifications and Requirements
● Minimum 2.2-lb (1.0 kg) Payload
● Maximum weight of 9.5 lb (4.31 kg) (including payload, canister, and sled)
● Maximum of 12.7 cm width/height
● Maximum of 40.64 cm length
● Must be removable as a separate unit from airframe
● Design/build a payload canister
● Design/build a payload sled
● Must transmit live video
● Ability to withstand 8 G’s of force
● Must autonomously return to base
Why is it named Adiona?
Adiona is the name of the Roman goddess of safe return. Since our rover's responsibility is to return to the rocket base on it's own, we thought this would be a very fitting name.