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We've all seen the many instructables here already for rocket launchers. The bottom line of most of those is simply a combination of switches that will run a current to the igniter in the rocket engine. Some are more "classy than others, one is wirelessly operated by a cell phone (just a relay switch though) and so on. These are all great and simple, which is what many people want. However, I like to make things more complicated, "improving" them, as many people might say. So here are the specs of my rocket launcher:
- A 2 part system utilizing a circuit on the ground and an additional hand controller
- The two controllers are linked together by simple cabling ( originally i was going to use a 4 wire telephone cable, but my order was messed up and i was shipped some ethernet jacks instead. This is actually even better, and so it shall use a moderate length of ethernet cable.
- A "smart" arming and disarming system to ensure safety
- No microcontrollers, ICs, or anything else to confuse others. Simple parts that can be found around the workshop, some can be scavenged from taken apart electronic devices, and others to be bought cheaply.
- Somewhat simplistic design that most electronic enthusiasts should be able to understand
- Author who will respond to any comments, questions, problems... within 24 hours. Happy to help.
- A 2 part system utilizing a circuit on the ground and an additional hand controller
- The two controllers are linked together by simple cabling ( originally i was going to use a 4 wire telephone cable, but my order was messed up and i was shipped some ethernet jacks instead. This is actually even better, and so it shall use a moderate length of ethernet cable.
- A "smart" arming and disarming system to ensure safety
- No microcontrollers, ICs, or anything else to confuse others. Simple parts that can be found around the workshop, some can be scavenged from taken apart electronic devices, and others to be bought cheaply.
- Somewhat simplistic design that most electronic enthusiasts should be able to understand
- Author who will respond to any comments, questions, problems... within 24 hours. Happy to help.
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Signing UpStep 1Prerequisites...
Just real quick, heres what i would know to make building this guy a lot easier.
Reading Schematics is a must
Knowing how to work with perfboard will be helpful.
Good soldering technique and experience is vital
Anyone who has a PCB workstation set up and wants to make PCB versions of this, let me know. I have many pcb layouts for the hand module and soon to be maybe a ground module too. Let me know, and of course leave pictures! The problem with this is that i use pad2pad, unlike most using eagle, so there might be some format issues but hopefully nothing to complicated.
As for tools, simple soldering equipment should suffice. As for me, I have a lot of it and I made that work out. As seen in the pics, it is fairly easy to get by on just the basic tool set. I laid out my entire tools for the pics. During work i only used about half of them here. Your call.
Reading Schematics is a must
Knowing how to work with perfboard will be helpful.
Good soldering technique and experience is vital
Anyone who has a PCB workstation set up and wants to make PCB versions of this, let me know. I have many pcb layouts for the hand module and soon to be maybe a ground module too. Let me know, and of course leave pictures! The problem with this is that i use pad2pad, unlike most using eagle, so there might be some format issues but hopefully nothing to complicated.
As for tools, simple soldering equipment should suffice. As for me, I have a lot of it and I made that work out. As seen in the pics, it is fairly easy to get by on just the basic tool set. I laid out my entire tools for the pics. During work i only used about half of them here. Your call.
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After that, I used Yenka for a bit (see the comments below), which also supports some electronics stimulation.
Now, however, I use EAGLE and National Instruments Multisim for my electronics designs.
Hope this helps!
-Looks very aducational ( =Great)
The program is called Thinkin Science Zap by Edmark. Here is a link that might help...
That site says 8 - 11 but it still serves the purpose today for basic electronics animation. And im pretty sure i got through all the challenges way before I was 8. The part of it I used is the explore mode of the electronics section.
I dont know where to find it today but I might recommend Yenka which allows the same capabilitiies and more, with a free home license, just meaning you have to be at your house cuz it then verifies your IP address
Hope this helps