Flight Computer for a TVC Model Rocket

An overview of an STM32 flight computer / avionics PCB I designed!
It is capable of stabilising and guiding a model rocket using thrust vector control (TVC).
Some useful KZbin channels that helped me:
PCB Design: / phils94
Electronics: / greatscottlab
Rocketry: / bpsspace
Coding (C++): / thechernoproject
Support me on Patreon: / jacobthornhill
Twitter: / jacbthornhill

[@jacobthornhill]

So, about the upload schedule... I have been very busy with school over the past year having just finished my GCSEs, and I haven't had much time to work on rockets (let alone videos). I will upload a few more times by the end of the year, and I will try to post update videos more consistently. In the meantime, I will be preparing to launch the rocket that this computer will be flying on, and after that I will post a video about the launch and the details of the rocket. I hope you enjoyed the video! PS. Sorry for the re-upload. I messed up the audio on the previous version.

[@ddegn]

Personally, I don't want to watch videos which are uploaded just to meet some "upload schedule." I much prefer videos made because the author had something they wanted to share. Thanks for sharing your progress with us.

[@nathansparkes465]

Fucking awesome

[@leog1557]

Jacob Thornhill

[@johnmorgangriffith8926]

Leo G

[@Alexey0027]

Добрый день. Вы молодец что занимаетесь и работаете в области электроники. Скажите пожалуйста, в какой программе и вы рисовали схему в этом видео?

[@bun72642]

Glad to see updates on the rocket, great job! : )

[@Niraj-cy6rk]

Your efforts always inspire us.Thanks for sharing & best of luck for your upcoming projects.

[@Welton_Family]

This is amazing Jacob. The breadth of this project is truly beyond your years. SBC development, programming, interface integration, 3D design and parts production at this level is certainly beyond B.Eng level. I can’t wait to see the continued development, simulation debugging in prep for flights tests. Well done !! P.S. Love the new logo,

[@ianhorsley4751]

Really impressive. I echo Bob’s comments. A fantastic multi disciplined project. Good luck with the integration. Look forward to the launch

[@swiss-dynamics5877]

Very nice Job! I aspire to come as close to this accomplishment as you have. Also I like the channel refrences in the description.

[@echo-hotel]

This is amazing. Great job!

[@HouseBricksDoor187]

This will be a big win for diy home missile tech

[@general_isaac]

This is very impressive!

[@anoniem012]

You speak very clear and quality project m8

[@ArnavGupta-st5qq]

How in the world does one understand and execute all this. Mind blowing.

[@rashedmamun3759]

Wow, awesome bro, waiting for next videos.

[@stephencarlson6297]

Very impressive!

[@MrKhalio]

Great job, Impressive

[@LordVautier]

This is so good!

[@user-qj9tq5rb2t]

Really impressive.

[@kazi_rageeb]

Welcome back, after 1 year

[@googlekonto5397]

nice job

[@cuy8541]

Your gimbal is very interesting!

[@DolezalPetr]

I really like it!

[@kkuenzel56]

"Check Out The Big Brain On Brett" Very cool!

[@MohamedAfzal]

good work..

[@funsubrehman668]

Great work you are genious

[@mohamedzain8628]

Bravo, Prince😃

[@MrDingus12345]

Good stuff

[@leog1557]

Jacob Thornhill

[@juvnchy]

ok

[@brainwashalpha5495]

Leo G

[@user-kw9cu]

That's him

[@anserdon8009]

yeah

[@aw_dev]

mhm

[@bobdalah8374]

Great job Jacob, next step the moon!!!

[@siddhantrao9587]

Lovely!

[@Prometheus7272]

This is very impressive I'm not a electronics guy, so I'm baffled.

[@dftdbs1010]

Can you publish the stl files and project files?

[@omareldanasoury4597]

Great work! I was wonndering about what is 3d printer you're using to create parts and componots for the projector?

[@dmytrokorenkov3068]

great job!Thanks! I am interested how i created gimbal mechanism

[@IvanEng747]

Sorry for the question, which AHRS you used? Then how do you compensate for centrifugal forces in flight?

[@dmitrynuzhdin]

Wow, very cool. I made a STM32 (F7) flight computer for my model rocket too! Btw I made most of the soldering just with a regular iron -- never used a paste. It is easy if you have a proper flux. The only difficult thing was a gyro and barometer -- reflow was required because contacts are not accessible. I also highly recommend you do get rid of Arduino and go with STM32 HAL or CMSIS. It is possible to go with Arduino, but it limits you a lot in reality.

[@michaellewis7758]

I tinker a bit with Arduino, what about something like Teeny ? Could still use PlatformIO/Arduino IDE and a lot more powerful than the microcontrollers used by the Arduino Nano/Uno/...

[@jameslabs1]

Cool!

[@toroddlnning6806]

how can you stabelize the rocket towards the correct path for moonlanding after you leave earth gravityfield, the sensors wont work?

[@awarminger2625]

Bangable xx

[@blackglove9779]

Your table top grid cover. What is it called?? I have tried searching on Google but couldn't find any product

[@skittle5888]

that pretty advanced for an amature rocket

[@Xerox482]

Hmmmm any plan to open source the project. will be good to tamper with it and learn and improve things.

[@arjoadve]

Great job. bro . what tools to design schematic... is very cool.

[@mossadsamaha4952]

What is the function of the flying wheel on the rocket?

[@mimsnshine]

Raytheon approves of this design

[@dibyojyotibhattacherjee897]

I am interested in the avionics part of a rocket, how shall I proceed forward?

[@syntheticperson]

cool

[@rahulpujari14507]

Bro where to learn that code and how did you code the drivers

[@MrfB-br6yh]

Any open source pcb schematics?

[@user-we1sn1lz6i]

I'm thinking about creating a missile control system for my graduation project from university and I don't know where to start......... Are there any tips you can offer me?

[@oleksiyt4602]

Hi, nice work! As I understood this gear for the engine shift was printed by you? What 3d printer do you have?

[@oleksiyt4602]

probably this is Ender-3...

[@jacobthornhill]

Thanks! Yes, this is all done on my ender 3 v2.

[@donbobskiy]

Anyway thanx and keep it up :))))

[@darkknight700]

First, I would like to thank you for this detailed explanation Secondly, I am an aviation engineer, I have a lot of knowledge but little experience, and now I am working on my graduation project and I am trying to build a vertical missile like the one you explain. Can you give me all the details on how to build this missile step by step? I know I am asking a lot but I would be grateful if you would help me, and thanks again

[@ROVA00]

No offense but how can you call yourself an engineer and still ask for a step by step guide? He was already kind enough to leave links to tutorials… Go read and watch videos and Figure it out!

[@darkknight700]

@@ROVA00 very thanks ✌ Ten months have passed, and after watching various scenes, I built a prototype and will begin experiments soon. My main problem is the limitations of the TVC, as it only moves in the range of -15. I will try to solve the problem and begin the experiments. Thanks again 👍

[@prakhargarg8058]

Hey how did you code the device drivers and where did you learn that complex code?

[@jacobthornhill]

Phil’s Lab! He has a great channel on PCB design and some videos on low-level firmware

[@jeremiahekochu2354]

👏👏👏

[@rajanbhadra8845]

What 3D printing material do you use?

[@jacobthornhill]

PLA. It’s a good balance of weight, strength and cost, and is very safe to print.

[@TheFaridrep]

nice rocket, cool tvc, would you mind if i copy your tvc mechanism design shown at 4:10 for my project?

[@jacobthornhill]

Go for it! Let me know how it goes

[@kuulowsaidkuulow7569]

There is no teacher anywhere to learn your rockets or explosives online, thanks

[@obamabinladen6969]

Can we place a warhead on this rocket

[@6Diego1Diego9]

That is really impressive. Do you have a background in embedded software engineering?

[@siddhantrao9587]

He's 16 and awesome

[@jacobthornhill]

I don’t, but I have learned a lot from KZbin and messing around with microcontrollers. (as someone said I am only 16)

[@siddhantrao9587]

@@jacobthornhill that someone is a fan and follows you on twitter too 😌

[@brainwashalpha5495]

@@jacobthornhill wow thats very impressive

[@supremeleader5516]

@@siddhantrao9587 hello Siddhant, I need to talk with u

[@babyyoda1091]

what type of microcontroller is this? and did the PCB connect to your computer

[@jacobthornhill]

It uses a STM32 (F4). It connects to my computer via USB for programming and serial coms.

[@babyyoda1091]

@@jacobthornhill i should of worded it better. how did you remotely connect the pcb to your terminal

[@zahidwalid3868]

Am ready to pay what ever it take to build or revers engineering the cruise rocket from scratch to a product what you say ?

[@yaboiii307]

50 Hz stabilizer, almost analog Respect 🫡

[@ivanarakistain3885]

Is it open source?

[@blastking2006]

Could you share your schematic

[@mohammadmohamad8244]

Hi.nice

[@ahmedmoustafa6829]

why didn't you use micoSD card for logging ?

[@kiprof4350]

because high acceleration and sock can damage the SD card.

[@supremeleader5516]

What was your college major?

[@MEGLADON_0706]

How to make like this

[@GuruImperium]

How do I contact you Please?

[@sjtraining8139]

How to get into making your own flight controller? How to actually design a micro controller?

[@Dat_Militia]

Are you selling this computer? Please send the pcb if it is possible

[@nerdtronaut]

Can you please explain how to use quaternions in a future video!?

[@jacobthornhill]

I’m afraid I hardly know how they work myself! I can give an outline on what my code does, but I can’t really go into the maths. The basic idea is to start with an identity quaternion (1+0i+0j+0k) which represents a zeroed orientation. At each timestep you construct a new quaternion from the gyro measurements multiplied by delta time, which represents the change in orientation the rocket has experienced since the previous timestep. You then multiply the first quaternion by this new one, which yields the rockets orientation at this timestep. I then convert back to Euler angles as that is the format most useful. Conversions: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_between_quaternions_and_Euler_angles Multiplication: stackoverflow.com/questions/19956555/how-to-multiply-two-quaternions Hope this helps!

[@nerdtronaut]

@@jacobthornhill Thanks for your very detailed answer! This helps me so much.

[@thesmurf321_]

Do you write all your code in python?

[@jacobthornhill]

I do use some python on my laptop for remotely commanding the rocket and processing data, but the code that runs on the rocket is all written in c++.

[@thesmurf321_]

@@jacobthornhill ahh i gotcha, really cool project. How long did it take you to get the skill necessary to develop this level of coding & software development?

[@vangard9725]

Me about to make a homemade self guided AGTM with this tutorial :clueless:

[@nimoabo6458]

thrust vector control (TVC)

[@jamesfunnel4059]

I think a rocket that can control its position is a missile

[@florians.8081]

thats zinzin

[@liamdrew1348]

3:13

[@rainbowshark8380]

Yoooooooo

[@motomeraktv9482]

Kolay gelsin

[@MrYega-zq7rz]

seeing people do amazing things like this makes me realize why im a low wage factory worker with no girlfriend or future or chance

[@abcdefg91111]

it all depends on your mentality. If you keep thinking like that you'll never get anything done in life. Know that it all relies on hardwork, patience and perseverance. You got this bro! Work towards something step by step

[@serpentphoenix]

This could be weaponized......

[@RADIS370]

You can get in a lot of legal trouble. Its like trying to make a guided missile

[@matthewsoules7064]

It can't have a target, so it's legal it might be legal to make one of these systems buyable by anyone tho

[@ostrich3771]

Hello

[@jacobthornhill]

Hello

[@akosszilagyi8223]

If you change the "rocket" to "missile" in the title, this becomes really SUS

[@NOESCINETV]

This video was going so well electronically until the moment he said he used arduino to program it at which point the whole video turned to garbage As an engineer is not serious about using Python or arduino

[@mehteshwarsinghgabbi4946]

Name this fc module

[@abdullahaliabbasi]

I enjoyed the video thanks. Such a great channel, but very few followers... I would like to play my role promoting it... I own a Science and Technology Blog, if you allow, I will promote it.

[@ashleyoasis7948]

i like this but the common boy or begginer is not gonna know this you relly have to dumb this down for the average man.

[@twitchhighlights9002]

I really don't recommend you uploading this. If it falls at the hands of the wrong people, it could mean huge trouble.

[@jacobthornhill]

Don’t worry, I won’t be publishing my code or any serious technical detail on this sort of stuff. Besides, there is quite a bit of TVC model rocketry content similar to this on KZbin right now.

[@twitchhighlights9002]

@@jacobthornhill I know, but during our time and age there is a lot going on with the world. It wouldn't be such a big surprise if people got any crazy ideas from these videos.

[@abdulrahmanal-abbasi8238]

@Walid Issa

[@awarminger2625]

@Anonymous Bosch

[@nin1ten1do]

´BAN this for russian.. dont let them become educated XD

[@RaisinsFS]

Can you publish the stl files and project files?

[@Assassinboy3000]

Jacob Thornhill

[@eja1731]

Jacob Thornhill