Nova Water Rocket - Part 2 of 3 - Parachute Deploy Mechanism

In this 3 part series we build and fly a mid-powered water rocket called Nova that can fly to 1000 feet (300m). In this episode we cover how the parachute deployment mechanism is made and also finish off the rest of the rocket by adding some fins and we paint it.
0:00 - Introduction
1:12 - Overall design
2:03 - Fitting electronics
3:20 - Shock cord
3:43 - Packing parachute
4:44 - Bench Test
6:23 - Making fins
6:58 - Attaching fins
7:42 - Fin fillets
9:01 - Painting
10:21 - Attaching mounting ring
10:51 - Final Assembly

[@mstreich]

Really enjoy your thought process on reducing complexity and component count. I don’t even build rockets, but appreciate the engineering your team puts into them.

[@TobyRobb]

Such a lot of thought has gone into this project. Weight, part count, ease of assembly. Your using all the new tools, and accessing all the efficient materials. You really are reaching for the sky !!

[@AirCommandRockets]

Thanks Toby. :)

[@arro_rockets]

So many uploads! Nice work George and team!!

[@RaketfuedrocketsDeutschland]

Great to see the improvements you made to the design! I particularly like the servo attachment and electronics housing. All the best for the flights! Julian

[@AirCommandRockets]

Thanks Julian. Your design seems to work very well. :) We're looking to change the design slightly to add a camera into the very tip. There is just enough room in there. The flight video should be ready on Friday.

[@rorypenstock1763]

Another excellent video as always, and a very impressive design.

[@denisporubov]

This is the best parachute deployment system ever! :) My son and I made and launched our first small rocket, with Arduino Pro Mini as a flight controller and recorder, and pyrotechnic parachute deployment. And now we will try to make a rocket from a 63 mm PVC pipe using your idea of a parachute system. Thank you for your videos!

[@AirCommandRockets]

Cheers. Best of luck with the build. :)

[@tcsyme]

George, the front end on the Nova is incredibly elegant. I love how you were able to take advantage of 3D printing to optimize the design. I can't wait to see the flight video!

[@AirCommandRockets]

Thanks for the nice words. :) The flight video is now available here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5eVq5SpfdmojtU

[@yelectric1893]

Beautifully elegant, thanks for sharing the techniques and technology

[@jonathans1759]

Great as usual.

[@TonyLambregts]

Another fantastic video. As always!.

[@AirCommandRockets]

Thanks Tony. :)

[@sharadthecurioustardigrade1533]

That's impressive, almost finished rocket in just 2 videos, really cool

[@fromaflafl2198]

amazing compact Deploy Mechanism you have designed. and grade mini-series you are doing. and it shows off how relatively easy it is to make a composite water rocket

[@AirCommandRockets]

Thanks. That was the intention of the project, to simplify it as much as possible where it should be fairly easy to reproduce with common tools. We intentionally didn't use the lathe for this project.

[@fromaflafl2198]

nice that was the plan and I think you did a wonderful job with it . and can't wait to see her fly. and any plans to release the 3d model for the nosecone?

[@vijithasanoj5335]

No one would take water rocket seriously like you Well done sir 👍👌👌

[@q300SBB]

Very nice job George.

[@J-Rod91]

Man you gotta love our current technological advancements....... specifically 3D printing! AMAZING!!

[@Shreyam_io]

DEPLOYMENT mechanism is superb.... thanks for sharing

[@AirCommandRockets]

Cheers. :)

[@softdorothy]

Awesome engineering.

[@koranich1]

beautiful parachute mechanism ))

[@istvanfrank9201]

Just 2 hour upploaded and im here to see it yeah!

[@Danielastronomo]

Amazing nosecone design! Hats off! I was surprised that there was no slot in the payload bay for a camera.

[@AirCommandRockets]

Good spotting! Actually John, my son,, pointed out that the camera could fit just above the parachute where the angled portion is. I'll have to have a look how we could get it mounted there. The alternative is just to find space in the payload bay and perhaps make it a little longer.

[@suspendedsuplexchannel1000]

Nyc and knowledgeable

[@spacemanmat]

Nice vid George

[@AirCommandRockets]

Thanks Matt. :)

[@aterxter3437]

Do you tried the cross like parachutes ? I made minirockets in a high school club with the CNES in France, (1meter of height, solid propellant, 67mm of diameter, 1,2kg, 300m at apogee) we always used the cross style, never any problems, just fold it precisely : You start with a cross You fold to of the arms on the other two, you get trousers You fold all the arms on top of one another, you get a house 🏠 You attach your release cord on the top of the roof (in the middle of the parachute) You fold the roof of the house inside to get a rectangle Now you can fold it as you want to get it fit in the rocket, just avoid to over wrap the chute in the cords, prefer align them under it in the parachute bay

[@user-le6pr4vc6g]

Супер. Молодцы.

[@franekwierzba3037]

Wow ale odjazdowa rakieta pozdrawiam autora nagrania

[@samhenderson2947]

You guys are amazing.

[@arro_rockets]

7:00 Nice touch lol

[@cavetradition7380]

this man is going to get orbit with a water rocket at this point.

[@mahikrishna____________cry1266]

😲wow

[@NMRocketry]

Incredible job! Make me want to get a 3D printer for our channel. Keep it up! 🚀

[@AirCommandRockets]

Thanks. You won't regret getting a 3D printer. And fairly good ones are a lot more affordable these days. It just opens up a whole new way to quickly make useful components.

[@NMRocketry]

@@AirCommandRockets Do you sell/have the CAD files for this nose cone design?

[@AirCommandRockets]

@@NMRocketry We're still making a few tweaks to the design. We'll make those publicly available when that's done.

[@kevinmcnally7796]

Air Command Rockets Hi! I love the design process. Would you mind sharing which 3D printer you are using? Seems to have a good size build area and the prints are a very nice quality.

[@AirCommandRockets]

@@kevinmcnally7796 We are using the Makergear M2 for out 3D prints. www.makergear.com/products/m2 We chose it because it had a nice print quality, though it is a little pricier. I think these days there are cheaper alternatives with similar specs.

[@universalrockets]

hey George! great video. I was wondering where you got your servo timer from and if you could please give me a link to where I can find it or one similar, thanks!

[@AirCommandRockets]

We make them ourselves, but unfortunately we don't have any more left for sale. These days a lot of people will use a simple Arduino board to achieve the same functionality.

[@alienbeef0421]

How do you ensure that the fins are 120° apart? It really looked precise 😳

[@AirCommandRockets]

Wrap a piece of paper around the body tube, mark where it overlaps. Take the paper off, divide the circumference by 3. Mark it back on the paper, put the paper back on the rocket and transfer the marks to the body tube. The fin alignment jig then takes care of the other two dimensions.

[@michelhrrn]

Nice rocket! How can I print the nosecone with my 3D Printer myself? Or where can I buy it? Thanks for this amazing project

[@nathant.vaughn838]

Hello, I'm doing a project for my stem class, and I just wanted to know if there was anyway to have a copy of the blueprints for the 3d design of the mechanism. I know you probably get this a lot but I would really be thankful.

[@AMeanZebra]

Have you guys created a dual deployment system? If so how did you guys apply the code for the parachute as it’s descending down (second parachute).

[@AirCommandRockets]

We have done some dual deploy tests a few years ago, but just used a timer to deploy the second chute after apogee. Ideally you would use a barometric sensor for the second parachute deploy so that you can set it to deploy at a particular altitude. It's more reliable that way.

[@OlegBovykin]

Nice idea! Any updates on releasing stl?

[@AirCommandRockets]

Yes, STL files are now available here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:5502347

[@a330turbinex7]

Superb project. Is there a lik to download the nose and parachute part to print? Thanks

[@panagiotisartemiou4613]

Hello, amazing work, congratulations! I would like to ask what is the material of the parachute because i see it can be compactly folded. And if there is a problem with how compact the parachute is folded regarding the deployment. Thanks a lot!

[@AirCommandRockets]

The parachute material is a really light weight rip-stop nylon.

[@t4werfn131]

How did you connect the nose cone and payload bay. Did you just make the radius of the payload bay a little smaller?

[@AirCommandRockets]

Yes, there is a smaller diameter step in the payload bay to slide the nosecone over so the outside diameters are the same.

[@josemanuelbautistacruz7480]

Hi my master Katz, I am very interested in get the electronic board that you used.

[@AirCommandRockets]

Thanks Jose. Unfortunately we don't make the timer boards anymore. These days the same functionality can be easily reproduced with any of the small Arduino boards.

[@stanisawgorczyca6460]

Can you recommend a servo timer? And what should I solder the g-switch to

[@carlitoskii]

I love your amazing work! Could you upload the 3D model of the nosecone? Or where is It available? Thank you before hand ❤

[@AirCommandRockets]

Thanks! The full 3D model is available here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:5502347

[@carlitoskii]

​@@AirCommandRocketsThank you very much for your quick reply. I have taken a look at the page you sent me, it has everything I was looking for except what is related to the parachute deployment system, there is no reference to the exact components, only a model with a tommy timmer, I have been able to find on the internet the servo motor and the altimeter but nothing about the servo timer and the batteries.

[@AirCommandRockets]

@@carlitoskiiThat is one limitation, the servo timers used in the design are unfortunately no longer for sale, but it should be possible to modify the design to match what ever controller you want to use. The batteries we used were: hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-nano-tech-300mah-1s-45c-lipo-pack-w-jst-ph.html One possible flight computer you may be able to use (provided you modify the bracket that holds the controller, or attach it differently in the nosecone) is this one: www.tindie.com/products/daninvents/rockit-flight-computer/

[@Daniel-nj8mr]

Hey George can you post the stl form the system?

[@roshantshrestha2188]

can you just make a video on Arduino manufacturing and programming to deployed the parachute which can calculate the altitude on the screen

[@ftmhaidar5181]

hi, any recommended website to buy the parachutes and drogue?

[@AirCommandRockets]

Depends on the size, the required loads and budget you have. For what size rocket?

[@avdax7sl552]

What is that servo timer that youre using?

[@AirCommandRockets]

Servo Timer II - www.aircommandrockets.com/servo_timer_V2_0.htm

[@rybrosh_56]

Would this deployment mech work on a high powered engine based rocket?

[@AirCommandRockets]

Probably not directly as is, the servo horn here is quite weak and so you would need to re-engineer the locking mechanism. On a HPR rocket you typically have much larger forces, and larger parachutes with longer shock cords so you would need a bit more space in the nosecone. You would also need some kind of simple spring to help get the parachute and door to come out cleanly at higher air speeds.

[@rybrosh_56]

@@AirCommandRockets thank you for the reply! That's how I redesigned it. I made the nosecone elyptical and big enough to fit the drouge chute then plan to mount the servo and horn on the inside of the nosecone so the entire mechanism is concealed. I plan to make a separate segment in the upper portion of the cover to attack a spring for releasing the cover, tho since it's ideally directly after apogee there shouldn't be much greater forces. I just don't know if it'll still work given that it won't have an ejection charge. (My first rocket btw)

[@ThienNguyen-mt6dy]

Can you tell me where can I buy this timer and servo?

[@AirCommandRockets]

Sorry this servo timer is no longer for sale.

[@andreaarcarisi8966]

good video

[@fusiontechnology2214]

Sir, Where did you buy altimeter?

[@AirCommandRockets]

jollylogic.com/products/

[@ericpham8205]

that is best used to deploy high altitude drone aerial photography

[@user-xu8xz7vu7d]

hello sir my project related to it so will you share the dimension of all the thing which is required to this project

[@AirCommandRockets]

Sorry we don't have detailed dimension diagrams available for this project, but I am happy to measure specific things if you were interested.

[@user-xu8xz7vu7d]

@@AirCommandRockets thanks for replying. we have completed our project and it goes very well and all parts work properly . your videos help alot so thanks

[@YoungWaveywv]

where did you get the servo motor and timer ?

[@AirCommandRockets]

The servo is $5 from e-bay, and the timers we make ourselves, though pretty much any Arduino could do the same.

[@freakysteve140281]

Nose cone on starship - nose cone on nova

[@AirCommandRockets]

Nosecone being fitted to SS was cool. :)

[@user-qu4yr6rs4v]

Hello! Could you share the files for printing the parachute system?

[@satyajitsahu4213]

What was the tool , that's used to hold the fins in vertical position..

[@AirCommandRockets]

That's just 4 aluminium L brackets bolted together with a small spacer in between that is the same width as the fins. You can change spacers when you have different sized fins.

[@satyajitsahu4213]

@@AirCommandRockets great idea , actually can I have a picture of that

[@YoutubeCclips]

would i be able to get the cad file?

[@TheThumbsUpChannel]

do you guys have stl for download or purchase?

[@AirCommandRockets]

Sorry, these files are not yet available for distribution. We still need to make some more changes before we release them out into the wild.

[@YoussefNakhla]

Where can I find the servo timer and batteries?

[@AirCommandRockets]

Unfortunately the Servo Timer is no longer for sale. The batteries were bought here: hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-nano-tech-260mah-1s-45c-lipo-pack-w-jst-ph.html?wrh_pdp=2

[@YoussefNakhla]

Hi, Thanks for the quick response!

[@SimeonNaydenv]

which batteries do you use?

[@AirCommandRockets]

These ones from Hobby King hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-nano-tech-300mah-1s-45c-lipo-pack-w-jst-ph.html

[@aterxter3437]

You say that you don't have to paint the nose cone, be careful, even a mate paint changes drastically the aerodynamics, for example, on business jets, a mate paint increase by the fuel consumption 6% (the figure is from an student in aeronautical engineering, in training at Dassault aviation)

[@AirCommandRockets]

I agree where performance is important, a polished surface is a must. In this application, however, it is not so important. It's just a model rocket.

[@pierrepaul6998]

How much did it cost to build those rockets?

[@AirCommandRockets]

Materials alone not that much. Less than $100. The tooling, and development of the construction techniques ... quite a bit more.

[@Turkey819]

do you think you can give a stl file?

[@AirCommandRockets]

The STL files are available here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:5502347

[@Slankish1944]

where do i buy a servo timer i cant find them anywhere

[@AirCommandRockets]

These particular ones are no longer for sale.

[@Slankish1944]

@@AirCommandRockets do you know if there is like an alternative

[@AirCommandRockets]

@@Slankish1944 You could try this: www.tindie.com/products/daninvents/rockit-flight-computer/

[@starstream4180]

Can you send me the 3d printing files and all the measurements for the body and fins

[@AirCommandRockets]

www.thingiverse.com/thing:5502347

[@vincentwaterrocket2493]

how many mm spray elephant 

[@AirCommandRockets]

I am assuming you mean the size of the nozzle? ... 7mm

[@acpi314]

5:30 ... I see. So in three years you will come up with the next generation of nose cone, which will be invisible...

[@AirCommandRockets]

And the next after that will be an indentation in the table. :)

[@longvuongxuan1806]

sorry but can you tell me the name of this mechanism

[@desertweasel6965]

You need to have 5:32 as your thumbnail for the video.

[@sangeetabiradar7059]

Please do it in hindi

[@bencrawshaw1227]

Lol that's the same weight as my RC plane

[@AirCommandRockets]

Does it go as fast? :)

[@bencrawshaw1227]

I haven't tested it yet I'm still waiting for one servo to arrive. To be fair most of the weight of My plane is the electronics. 3\4 electronic the rest balsa. It's my first build, before that I've only built gliders. I don't know how well it will fly because my motor is underpowered compared to what I originally envisaged.

[@bencrawshaw1227]

Well electronics and control linkages.

[@user-ge1lg6pr6i]

hlw pliss the hilp you i am a Bangladeshi

[@NeoJae]

E

[@Radosalo]

George, your parachute deployment system is the best system I’ve ever seen! 3:41 If you can give me file with this parachute deployment system, please give me it🥹

[@AirCommandRockets]

The files are available here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:5502347

[@Radosalo]

@@AirCommandRockets Thank you!