Flight Computer and Navigation Software for a Fin-Controlled Rocket

[@jacobthornhill]

I forgot to mention that PCBWay is hosting its annual design contest at the moment! You can enter your electronics, CAD, or STM32 projects to be judged by a team of engineers. Prizes include cash, coupons, and various DIY electronics. Details: www.pcbway.com/activity/7th-project-design-contest.html

[@Wi8had0w]

my honest question is , what do you do to pay bills while working on this . thanks .

[@BPSspace]

You're really great at striking the balance of technical detail and brevity for KZbin. Also I've got my kalman filter set up the same way! I assume you're doing your filter in the inertial frame, and acceleration is rotated out of body frame first?

[@JackOHaraEngineering]

Real men convert to perifocal and hate themselves

[@jacobthornhill]

Thank you so much Joe! Yes exactly, I’m transforming the acceleration to the inertial frame before it goes into the filter.

[@ZeRoTVLife]

Two GOATs in the same space! Damn

[@stratos2]

Finally a video that at least somewhat explains the magical Kalman filter. Love the more technically in-depth stuff, very nice work!

[@888berg]

Yes would love to see you explain a kalman filter with your rocket example :))

[@karoliszukauskas9601]

Very nice project. I am really impressed how much knowledge you have in such different fields (math, programming, electronics, aerodynamics etc.). I hope you can successfully finish your model rocket. Best of luck!

[@PCBWay]

Good job, Jacob ❤‍🔥! Can't wait to see your next one!

[@heatherryan9820]

Omg, thank you so much for making this video. I have been completely stuck on trying to create my own flight controller for a long time now, and thus explains so much. Definitely going to save this video so I can reference it later. Again thank you so much.

[@LafayetteSystems]

Excellent video, thank you for sharing! Excited for your first flight!

[@jacobthornhill]

Thank you!

[@KofiAsare0]

Great IMU choice, integration, and video!

[@jacobthornhill]

Thank you! I'm loving your content too, and I'm very envious of your telemetry system!

[@cool_lateef]

I have no idea what you're talking about. Feels exactly like rocket science!

[@elisdotenv]

I feel you man, same here 😂

[@AshrafulR7p-ey8yl]

Same here 😂😂

[@arinascimento547]

You may use Galileo HAS for better accuracy positioning and IMU error reseting. Very nice project by way. The Kalman Filtering is a smart choice.

[@jacobthornhill]

Thanks! I haven't heard of HAS before, it looks very interesting.

[@Vader141D]

I'm also making flight computer for my Model rocket too . Using same module as you are using but . Not as advanced as yours you literally had all of them in a single pcb . And you are also steering it man that's so cool

[@NatxoVarona]

Great job, you are a wizard in the world of rockets, congratulations Jacob 🚀

[@Vrey662]

Impressive. Somehow, you summarised all that in 10 min video.

[@jeroincababat565]

I don't have enough knowledge about electronics but I find this cool

[@Bob_too]

Super clear and insightful explanations. Great work Jacob 🚀

[@youssefn.3437]

I wish you would make a video about the roadmap to get to this level of excellence

[@FW190D9]

Extremely impressive, thanks for explaining it

[@yacineyaker7485]

finaly a good quality video on youtube😂

[@iforce2d]

Very interesting stuff, and well explained too.

[@nicola_gaiani]

Great work, impressive!

[@jacobthornhill]

Thanks! I actually came across your channel last week - amazing stuff and very professionally done. Congrats on all the views, and good luck with whatever comes next!

[@nicola_gaiani]

⁠@@jacobthornhillappreciate it! I’ll be reading the madgwick paper you left in the description, seems really useful

[@maxmyzer9172]

This is awesome!

[@annaj7918]

Great video, this is so inspiring! Thank you Jacob, keep up the hard work🙌🙌

[@jacobthornhill]

Thank you Anna!! Will do 🤓

[@iforce2d]

With the right antennas the 'high-power'/PA nRF24 can definitely transmit over long distance (eg. 30+km on my high altitude balloon), but it would require the antenna to be sticking out sideways which I guess is not ideal for a rocket. Also you'd want it to be in transmit only mode, which would not allow sending commands to the rocket. Starting in bi-directional mode and then switching to transmit-only right before launching would be possible, but not reversible wirelessly. Most likely you'd get better range with one of those off-the-shelf modules (with the RF shield can) than you would with your own PCB - I'm no expert, but I do know that RF traces are a devilishly difficult thing to get right.

[@jacobthornhill]

Thanks for the detail! My last rocket had a nRF24 without the PA, so I probably should have given a nRF24+PA a spin before switching to LoRa. 30 km range is crazy! Definitely going to watch your series on that now. Also, I’ve used plenty of your GPS and RF range tests as reference when deciding what to go for - clearly I should have paid more attention to your nRF24 range testing video!!

[@durjoypurakayastha6978]

Great explanation

[@MrI8igmac]

I really like your board it has everything. Im testing with esp32s3. I subscribed!

[@unknown3t]

Ah yes. The missile knows where it is at all times. It knows this because it knows where it isn't, by subtracting where it is, from where it isn't, or where it isn't, from where it is, whichever is greater, it obtains a difference, or deviation. jk, great video, can't wait for more

[@marcspeck]

great you share your knowledge, thank you! I only watched the IMU part. You seem to you pick your favorite car for the highest indication written on the speedometer, not for the real top speed? 🙂bit resolution typically doesn't matter that much, focus on the noise instead, e.g. 2.8mdps/sqrt(Hz) for the gyro. If you integrate over time, the noise of the time gets as important as the sensor noise (as you mentioned with the external clock signal)

[@jacobthornhill]

Interesting, thank you!

[@ilbey]

MORE

[@jacobthornhill]

Thank you so much!! More to come…

[@LordCaptainFather]

Thankyou....

[@piconano]

I know the ESP32 well. Now it seems I have to learn the STM32 since they are used everywhere. Learning any new chip in depth is a 1,000+ page of manual pain.

[@도둘리-i7k]

Nice video. One question for AHRS fusion alrogithm. Why did you use Madgwick filter even if you can implement kalman filter for position tracking? One of the most key benefit of using Kalman Filter is fast initial convergence and most commercial SOMs using it for this reason. Of course they put their own recipe filters to cope with the external disturbrance and optimizations.🐱🐒🦄🐅🐹🐘🐪

[@vasylcf]

Amazing video 🎉

[@jhyland87]

Is your code vailable in a repo somewhere? Would be neat to be able to read through it in detail

[@tomrybarski]

I agree, even if it would be accessible only through patronite, that would be helpful

[@TerragonAI]

cool project 🙂

[@ahmedmoustafa6829]

BNO055 and BNO085 are better alternatives. They can make sensor fusion for you as well 😊 BNO055 is 9 axis IMU so you save one component on board

[@ЕвгенийШепард-р2х]

Super cool!

[@JanetGrech]

Blimey, I feel like an amoeba by comparison. Thank you for demonstrating the importance inherent in not standing still in a world where the 'progress' genie is well and truly out of the bottle. Education is key. By the way, which docking port at the ISS are you going to rendezvous with?

[@Plutonium_357]

You are a genius...

[@osmanpasha_diy]

Very impressive!

[@Marryatau]

Who would’ve guessed it? Quaternions did it again!!! 😂

[@HENEKETT]

Great work. Everything seems to be clear after watching. But how to make first step. Specially when you are on the couch :P

[@pareshprajapati7916]

Thank you sir

[@attilagergely6734]

Great video on the flight computer and navigation software for your fin-controlled rocket, Jacob! I was fascinated by the design process and implementation details you shared. I'm curious - are the CAD files, schematics, and code for this project available anywhere? It would be amazing to dig deeper into the technical aspects. Keep up the awesome work!

[@CanAltineller]

Hello Jacob, the MEMS sensors do have a cross coupling effect under linear acceleration, and in your case of use there is a lot of linear acceleration. As one axis of acceletometer faces acceleration, the other axises produce false data, that manifests itself as a twist. Have you observed it in your experiments?

[@andersgranskov9649]

What PCB software did you use to design your PCB? Great video :)

[@jacobthornhill]

Thanks! I used KiCad for this project

[@EngineerAnandu]

good.

[@ViliamBodor-f8t]

I would like to make aerospace embedded systems in the future. I am thinking about learning, starting using STM 32. Is this microcontroller used also in professional aerospace systems? Or is it just for hobbyist? If so, what other microcontrollers should I learn?

[@RF_Micrwave]

good job man

[@chess1011]

Can you tell us what software you used to build 2d circuit board design and PCB design? Is it tinkercad and easyPCB?

[@RixtronixLAB]

Nice,thank you :)

[@BrandonJJackson]

How do you guys do handle the real time stuff? I would like to know why you guys dont use embedded linux devices or microprocessors and how do you guys simulate all this? Gazeebo with ros? Not because i want to build a actual rocket but i would love to use sensor fusion and kalman Filter aswell, maybe for a fixed wing uav. Huge respects!

[@faygo04]

Hello! What software are you using to desing the 3d models of the rockets ?

[@jacobthornhill]

Fusion360!

[@faygo04]

Thx 🦅🦅

[@shubham2295]

If integrating GNSS/GPS data with Kalman Filter, how are you dealing with low data rates from GPS/GNSS. Isn't the max data acquisition rate set by the ublox M9N is 25 Hz, which I personally have never seen. Btw awesome project, am still learning would love to help you in some way.

[@jacobthornhill]

The ‘predict’ step of the filter is called at a fast rate, but the GNSS and barometer update procedures are only called when new data is available. The M9N can do 25Hz, but from what I remember this comes at the cost of accuracy - I think it can only process certain constellations at this rate.

[@shubham2295]

@jacobthornhill I think all constellations work on that but yes accuracy is bigger sacrifice here. The M9N has few nuances which can be accessed with ublox ucentre 2, if you haven't looked up. Still I am keenly interested in what you are building best of luck for the rocket.

[@barfbot]

also did you battery back that m9n module for warm locks or is there a warmup period you have on pad? i also have never got them anywhere near 25 Hz even with all other ubx messages disabled

[@shubham2295]

@barfbot I am currently working on AHRS based on BNO 055 and subsequently trying to perform dead reckoning and i know i will have to integrate GNSS ahead and I am totally expecting 8Hz worth of speed with low accuracy 😭

[@siddharthsharma2248]

1/ how did you learn to design the PCB? 2/ can you share your firmware code? 3/ why design your own PCB? why not use something off the shelf?

[@ashutoshshukla4680]

Can you share code for orientation estimation and how you calibration is done of sensors

[@3dmicroproject]

Hello, what name of website you buy componen?

[@eto38581]

Hey man! I built 59 rockets so far using your library. Two of them actually went through Israel's iron dome. Others got intercepted. How can I implement an avoidance algorithm to counter iron dome? Love from Lebanon 🇱🇧 🇱🇧 الحب من لبنان

[@javierramon8721]

how did you learn to design pcb? any recommendations I would love to know about this and start? any tutorials, any books you could recommend? thanks a lot

[@jacobthornhill]

The Phil’s lab KZbin channel has great tutorials for KiCad and Altium!

[@sergiogcollado]

impressive

[@tomrybarski]

Hi Jacob, any chance for the software that you are presenting here to be uploaded on to your Patreon profile? Cheers

[@florians.8081]

Why STM32 instead of ESP32, Teensy or RP2040 ?

[@jacobthornhill]

I really like the STM32 dev environment, and I have quite a bit of experience with them 👍

[@JrTesla]

@@jacobthornhillbut the best for this project is rp2040

[@manfredbogner9799]

Sehr gut

[@aladinmovies]

Interesting

[@alberdemir8877]

Wow I always thought a simple gyro module's data would be sufficient to steer a rocket!

[@Mhmmmmmmmmd]

We need a file for the three-dimensional design of the rocket

[@armaniox]

Nice

[@ghostronics-4113]

sir can you please share this code.

[@thedalton482]

Your imu samples at 8000hz you down sample at 200? So you’re processing 40 samples every 5ms? Surprised the microcontroller can keep up with that timing

[@AbdiPianoChannel]

Rocket science

[@ioijiopjkiopjkp]

Fin-controlled rocket, ie a missile. Hope you're ready for a visit from the authorities lol

[@fleshwound8875]

Is that what missiles are call now? fin controlled rockets? lol...

[@LeonardoCuadriello]

Next step would be a ICBM

[@pc2753]

Ok. I'm not an engineer 😅

[@piconano]

They don't call it rocket science for no reason!

[@oddzc]

Just remember your accuracy in lowest bits is only as good as your noise floor on things like power supplies etc

[@superjimnz]

I was of the impression that adding guidance to a rocket was illegal?

[@jacobthornhill]

It depends, but that’s not what I’m doing. My rocket has navigation and control systems, but not a guidance system

[@keybrent64]

"model rocket"

[@florians.8081]

Your image is really good, but your sound is shit. Please change it, and the video will be as nice to watch as BPS's.

[@jacobthornhill]

Yeah, it might be time for a new microphone…

[@evanbarnes9984]

It's really not that bad. It's not amazing audio, but totally passable. I think before dropping cash on a new mic, you should try running your audio through a gentle de-esser and maybe a subtle EQ and compressor, and I bet that would take the audio a long way for free. Although there is something really pleasurable about recording with a really good mic!

[@bengamble7033]

Stl??

[@Alisachit617]

How i can talk with you about some problem i cant solve it

[@alirezaabasi.]

Great video 👌