Title: Electronic Parachute Deployment System

Sponsor: Texas Instruments - Precision Analog

The purpose of this project is to design, simulate, fabricate, test, and demonstrate a TI-based electronic parachute deployment system for large model rockets. Individuals with a passion for any or all of the following are desirable: analog circuit design/simulation, printed circuit board (PCB) layout $ fabrication, microcontroller coding, and hardware debugging.

Phase 1

Develop a BoosterPack for the MSP430 LaunchPad. Examples can be found here.

The BoosterPack will have one or more sensors (e.g. accelerometer and/or altimeter) to detect acceleration/velocity/altitude. It will also have an LCD display that reports real-time data. You will design, simulate, and fabricate a PCB with the analog signal conditioning circuit to interface the sensor(s) with the MSP430 ADC. Testing for this phase likely includes emulating the sensor(s) with their voltage profile from a typical rocket launch.

Phase 2

Integrate design with rocket. You may need to integrate the BoosterPack and LaunchPad into one PCB due to weigh/space constraints. Testing for this phase likely includes collaborating with a local rocket club (previous team has contacts that you can leverage).

This project will utilize a variety of components from Texas Instruments' broad portfolio. This will qualify the project for participation in Texas Instruments' Analog Design Contest.

Team members will have the opportunity to develop and/or strengthen the following skills:

These skills will prepare group members well for post-graduation positions such as applications and design engineering.