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PCB Design

  • June 25, 2019June 5, 2020
  • by ben

Our PCB Design is now in its third and final version. After iterating on both Revision 1.0 and Revision 2.0, Revision 3.0 is the culmination of a year of work to perfect the main hub for all the avionics in our rocket. The board is now laid out in a much easier way to build and test with. More voltage levels have been added, and we can now use more actuators and sensors. This allows us the flexibility of performing any actuation or reading we will come across.

The final board layout in EAGLE

A main focus of this revision was to streamline the rest of the hardware development. If two related components were on opposite sides of the board, it would cause us to flip back and forth during testing since it is double-sided. In this revision, this problem is eliminated by placing all the components that need to be accessible on one side and all the components that we don’t need to access on the other.

Another difference between this revision and previous ones is the elimination of the voltage step-up. A higher-voltage power system was designed utilizing two 14V lithium-polymer batteries, eliminating the need to step down then step up multiple times to other voltages. The traces on the board were also increased in size to reduce unnecessary resistivity losses.

Overall, this new PCB design should help speed up development and handle anything we throw at it, whether that is temperature sensors, pressure sensors, triggering valves, or even lighting an e-match!

The populated Rev 3.0 board, with sensors and debugging equipment attached

The final board revision was produced for us by our awesome sponsor, www.customcircuitboards.com!

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Designing a Circuit Board

  • February 28, 2019June 5, 2020
  • by ben

Over the past few weeks, we have been developing our first version of our Printed Circuit Board (PCB). We chose to use Eagle, a PCB Design Software, as it had an easy learning curve as well as an easily attainable educational license. In Eagle, we had to first design and import all the different electronic components that were going to be used into the rocket. We then had to figure out the correct electrical requirements for each component and how to link up each one correctly to the entire system.

The next step was to design the PCB layout itself. We started off with a circular design so it would fit into the rocket base. We then traced the connections so that they didn’t interfere with each other or cross each other. The blue and red lines below show different “levels” of connection. The red traces are the top copper connections, while the blue traces are the bottom copper connections.

We’ve spent a lot of time on it so far, but this is still only our initial design. It still needs to go under testing and multiple iterations to be ready for launch day.

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Sending a Signal Over 3000 Feet

  • December 7, 2018June 5, 2020
  • by ben

When determining where to launch, there were many regulations which we had to abide by. One of the challenges we faced was that the launch command could not be sent over a wireless connect. Instead, it would have to be sent over a physical connection for security purposes. Additionally, the mission control center had to be located 3000 feet away from the launch site. Our goal was to find a way to send a signal over a physical connection at a distance of 3000 feet.

I incorrectly surmised that I could send the connection over Ethernet. Upon further study, I found out that Ethernet cables have a maximum distance of 250 feet. I then concluded that the solution would be to get a repeater. This would total about 12 repeaters needed throughout the process, all of which would need to be hooked up to a power source. This is not practical for the goals we have set in place.

I then researched and looked into fiber optic cables. I could convert a signal from Ethernet -> fiber optic -> Ethernet. The fiber optic cable could send enough bandwidth over a distance of 3000 feet to satisfy pre-launch communication. After determining the exact type of fiber optic cable needed and the type of connection that would satisfy the signal converters, we directed our attention towards our future purchase. We are currently in communication with L-com and we hope that they will be able to supply the needed materials.

News

Sponsored by L3 Technologies

  • October 25, 2018June 5, 2020
  • by ben

L3 Technologies, one of the leading aerospace and defense companies, has given a generous large corporate sponsorship to Castle Point Rocketry; L3’s funding puts CPR one big step closer to reaching space. It was a honor to speak to them and present to them what we have accomplished so far. We had the great pleasure of showing them our 50% scale 3-D printed prototype engine. They had extremely valuable information and resources for us that will aid us in progressing toward the Karman Line.

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