This Model Rocket Lands Itself Better Now

[@sunkid86]

This is exceptional. Joe Barnard didn't use a leg dampening with a ratchet that probably could've grantef him a landing sooner. Also, the fact that you could launch again the same day shows a great approach to your design process, and proves that simpler, quicker testing is more important than almost anything, as well as that the product is not the product itself but the whole process of testing and the production.

[@feelincrispy7053]

So a dude who donated his kidney to save a dying child, donated 50k to the homeless and donates blood every month is a narcissistic egotistical hack ey?

[@astrodarsh]

Joeyb is the greatest after elon!!!

[@ImmortalGMD-xr6gq]

For it to be spacex style now you need to catch it on chopsticks

[@jrdpropulsion5021]

That's a really creative leg design! I'm super exited to see what's next for the project!

[@captjohnny]

Take a look at what the RC car market does with shock absorbers. You're on the right path.

[@codysp]

I was thinking the same thing. You could use adjustable shocks and take the rebound out.

[@captjohnny]

@@codysp Correct...take a look at 'any' RC car...they don't bounce when dropped

[@julianchee2894]

Congratulations landing it AGAIN !

[@simonabunker]

Very nice engineering! The lunar module had similar dampening to this - except theirs didn't need to be reused. They absorbed the impact using aluminium crumple zones. I think this is also the reason the ladder was so far off the ground as the landing impact was less than they expected, so it didn't crumple all the way. Can't wait to see your next project!

[@KofiAsare0]

Nice work, it's awesome to see Eagle flying again!

[@AirCommandRockets]

Awesome work Mark! The dampening worked really well.

[@deanjones2525]

This is the second channel I've seen attempting this SpaceX-type landing with model rockets. The main difference in the model rocket landings and SpaceX is that you guys use solid rocket motors that don't have trust control.

[@CarlWinter-oy8uf]

Well done --your persistence on damping the landing --paid off !

[@chiparooo]

Great job! Love your iterative design process. Thanks for sharing!

[@JohnCillis]

Very cool. Back in late '74 while I was in the eighth grade I bought a Centuri Eagle which included a launch pad. The original launch wire bent so I replaced with one that had spring steel. The rocket was great--plastic fins, plastic nose cone, and chute which I later replaced with a streamer. With a C6-5 it could reach 1100 feet and with a C6-7, 2000 feet but I preferred a C6-5 so I would not lose the rocket on the way down. Sometimes the chute would not deploy but the rocket, with its strong plastic fins, never broke. Called a 'beginners' rocket, that depended on engine choice and the size of the launch field. I always used my high schools launch field, and I flew the rocket until 77, so I got in an amazing number of flights until the rocket was lost when it got caught by an odd thermal. Your rocket is quite cool. Where I live now, in Phoenix Arizona, I can see the Space X launches from Vandenberg depending on their flight path--amazing since the base is 500 miles distant as the crow flies. This link is a bit of history about the Centuri Eagle, which I also demonstrated once for my grammar school, and the minute it reached just below the cloud base, it started to pour so my principal--still good friends in his late 80's, said I and my assistant 'seeded the clouds'. I graduated from that school the following summer and still have my eighth grade diploma. www.rocketreviews.com/centuri-engineering-co-screaming-eagle-john-lee.html

[@noorsabasayed5602]

That's some rock-solid engineering.

[@jameskelly1680]

I was thinking about the motors. Model rocket engine design is simplistic, with a hollow cylinder of fuel grain burning on the inside face. There are two processes in motion: one, the engine gets lighter over time, increasing acceleration towards the end of the burn. And two, the burning surface is larger toward the end of the burn, which means more thrust and higher acceleration. It seems if you are willing to put in some work, you could taper off the thrust in a predictable manner. The Space Shuttle SRBs start with a star-shaped (more like sprocket-shaped) core cast into the grain. This gives it way more surface area at the beginning of the burn. If you were to make a clay star-shaped (sprocket-shaped) casing, with the teeth on the inside wall, when the grain is cast into the casing, it would have a tapered acceleration toward the end. The burning surface would decrease over time. Tinkering with the number of teeth in the sprocket, the depth and taper angle, you would be able to fine-tune the thrust to your liking. I've never seen anyone try this. If anyone has a video on it, it would be fascinating to watch.

[@hagerty1952]

James - You've just touched on a subject that has religious ferocity in amateur rocketry almost as intense as the motor/engine one in model rocketry! I actually got to crawl around inside the bore of a Shuttle SRB engineering mockup (well, the top segment, anyway) as part of a job I was quoting. This was a completely accurate casting, it just didn't have any AP in it (only the PB rubber and aluminum powder). I had to stick my head into the narrow neck-down at the top to look down the slots in the grain. There were 11 of them (always an odd number so that no two openings face each other) and more that a little awe-inspiring, considering what this machine does!

[@u9Nails]

Congrats on that landing! That's a great success.

[@MrHichammohsen1]

This is hot stuff! Love how Joe comments and encourage the community to produce people like you with this beautiful work!

[@Project-Horizon]

Agreed, Joe is the GOAT!

[@leedex]

Keep up the good work. And you will reach orbit before Blue Origin 😉

[@divyajnana]

Great work, IBM process, "Plan your Work, Work your Plan."

[@antonnym214]

Dude! WOW! The first time I saw SpaceX succeed with this, I was dumbfounded! Like a pogo stick coming in from outer space and landing straight up! Amazing. That you have come this far is truly fantastic AND you should be working for an aerospace company. Try a small company that is flexible and thinks outside the box like Dynetics, RFA, Rocketlab or Sierra Space. All good wishes!

[@GimbleOnDew]

This is a really cool project. Well edited video too.

[@jurajpavlica]

Amazing work and great idea for the dampening mechanism! Looking forward to your next project!

[@thomasmelvin1333]

Man, I must say -- this is awesome! Well done, congratulations!

[@charlesblithfield6182]

I love watching the legs extend at just the right moment prior to landing.

[@Project-Horizon]

Same here! I actually spent some time figuring out the right delay for leg deployment to achieve that cool looking affect.

[@anon_y_mousse]

Okay, that is legitimately cool. And the fact that you did that solo is cooler still. I can't wait until you launch something into space, if you haven't already.

[@thehuston]

Thank you for the honest development.

[@zillboop4687]

so happy too see this project again 😊

[@randywolf4080]

Nice job Mark, that was great.

[@shagmesilly78]

Honestly..... so cool mate! Well done

[@aaryananand7288]

Ayyyyy! More landing rockets after that one joey B vid!! Great job! Imma hop on the train too sometime this year...

[@jsalsman]

I love this whole topic area, and this example is such a good video.

[@Ruudberg]

all the hardware, software filming etc etc respect you're a real smart cooky

[@sutsuj6437]

Instead of having a suspension, wouldn't you be able to have landing spikes instead of legs. If the rocket comes down, it would drive the spikes into the ground, preventing it from jumping back up, because of the sliding friction with the ground. Just a thought, don't know if this is viable. And this would obviously only work when landing on soft surfaces.

[@JonathanSchrock]

That would be pretty likely to just tip over if there were too much lateral velocity. It's also questionable whether the thing weighs enough to drive itself deep enough to secure itself.

[@CADKid-q7c]

I have a feeling that that would work pretty well but they might think of that as cheap or cheating

[@krelsys7861]

This comment reminds me of what the rules are for the highest jumping robot . Things like this have some criterias that put them in certain categories. I'm not sure what it would be for landing but if you look into the rules for jumping robots it would sort of show the fundamentals of why limits are put in place

[@feelincrispy7053]

That’s just cheating

[@edvorisek1128]

Jarts!

[@JimMcGrath25]

Great job Mark! I love this video.

[@Lxttledxrkness]

I’m excited everytime I get a notification from you

[@garymucher4082]

May even consider using five legs. Five legs make it even harder to tip over. The government had tons of four leg chairs they bought for everyone in the electronics repair shop. And so many were easily able to tip them over trying to slide them around. So they got rid of all the four legged chairs and bought five legged chair and that stopped the tip over instantly... Just an idea!

[@icarossavvides2641]

Yes but five legs is more weight, three legs, though is more forgiving on uneven ground?

[@Gwenydd]

Really impressive work there Mark. I would love to see details on all the systems you incorporated into this project. I used to build model rockets many years ago and I still do all sorts of RC projects. Your project is really inspiring me to consider working on something similar and perhaps working toward precision landings on a target platform just like SpaceX. Keep up the incredible work!

[@kayboku7281]

CONGRATULATIONS! It is no small achievment!

[@ptonpc]

Congratulations on the safe landing :)

[@toanao1894]

it so cool ! great work man

[@ExpoSolco]

The fact you're able to controllable land using solid boosters is quite amazing Good job y'all

[@typxxilps]

subscribed - really good video and project explaining a lot in a clear way even understandable as a non native speaker greetings from Germany

[@Positive_Altitude]

Very cool, Mark! I was thinking that you need shock absorbers watching your landing attempts. I like the design, very simple and efficient. Also, I would recommend to stay away from PLA for any parts under dynamic load and use PETG instead. Especially for parts that are supposed to bend like this locking thing. Good luck with future projects!

[@Project-Horizon]

Thanks Dima! I was thinking of moving to PETG or ASA as well after those first few failed attempts but was surprised swapping PLA colors made such a significant change. Will definitely keep that in mind though for future projects.

[@godlugner5327]

The only thing better than BPS space Is giving him competition for innovation 🤜🤛

[@JesseTrevorOP]

Don't worry soon I ll too join their rivalry

[@muddyblokjes9753]

Rocket science and T rips i love it!

[@hytralium]

You actually did what Joe didnt! 🎉 Also, thank you for your help on my flight computer last year!

[@Project-Horizon]

@@hytralium No problem, glad I could help! I’m sure Joe could do it again if he focused on it, after 7.5 years on a project I don’t blame him at all for moving on to other things.

[@adhdguy8403]

Your are one of those October Skys kids. Awesome

[@CalMariner]

Nice! Natural PLA for the win

[@TheCiardellas]

Very nice work!

[@Sup3rStyleHD]

underrated KZbinr IMO

[@VDP207]

This is really remarkable. Wow

[@tomernst8595]

i’m awarding you the contract to bring butch and suni back. your methodology is clearly better than boeing’s.

[@howintesting940]

Fabulous !! Suggest you: 1) use 3 legs, not 4; 2) use oil filled dampers

[@Pr0toPoTaT0]

Dude thats awesomeness and a half!

[@adrianocamargo3193]

Nice well done! You've asked about ideas for a future project? How about landing the rocket using the chopsticks idea? You could do it even before SpaceX this time! 😁

[@CoryC54]

I'd change one bit of the suspension: A delayed reset. After deployment, if it bounces or takes off again, it'd allow you multiple tries at landing instead of the one-shot catch mechanism. A piston would let you control the reset timing with air orifice size. Spring to absorb & dampener to extend the release time of that absorbed energy.

[@swooshjj]

well done ! 👍🏻

[@Gijs-t7p]

Love how you made it super realistic by having the rocket unable to hover... So it has to get it height and speed to zero, and cut the engines at the same exact moment.

[@TheKilerfish]

You can't hoover these types of rocket engines as you have no thrust control, you can only ignite the engine and hope you simulated it well and the rocket will decelerate to 0 at the right moment

[@Gijs-t7p]

@@TheKilerfish The SpaceX rocket does have thrust control but cannot go so low as to be able to hover, so it is has to do the same as this rocket, get to zero speed and height at the same time and then cut the rocket at that time too. Which is what i liked about this model rocket.

[@danbenson7587]

Browning A5 shotgun uses short recoil operating principle. The barrel reciprocates to cycle the action. Its damper is a split bronze ring that slides on the magazine tube. The barrel has a guide ring that also slides on the magazine tube. This ring has a female internal chamfer which mates to the bronze ring’s external chamfer. When the gun fires the barrel starts back and the chamfers squeeze the bronze ring on the magazine tube for friction damping. (Also the barrel recoil spring is between the bronze ring and the receiver…so the ring always has a bit of force on it) The system in the video does not dissipate energy, but transfers it to the spring.

[@silva-sir]

Cool project Young Sheldon changed Rockets for sure 😂😎

[@bobmirror7164]

Cool times 10 to the 10,000. So much technology, so much fun.

[@floridafootprints]

Good job Mark

[@caploc]

no way hes back

[@JoeyBlogs007]

I think air bleed dampers might get a better landing result than springs. A bit like a bicycle pump type setup. You could 3D print them also, using solid and flexible filament for the piston seal. Basically make a miniature cylinder pump with bleed valve on each leg. It could have a gentle spring inside to return the piston when no load is present. i.e. When the model rocket is airborne. With a miniature setup on each landing leg, this system could significantly reduce impact forces, making landings smoother and protecting the rocket from damage.

[@Project-Horizon]

Great ideas, thank you!

[@TheZooloo10]

Hey just a suggestion on the software side of things. changes to your code can be wrapped in "feature flags" controlled by a config setting, so that if it causes major issues turning it off on the fly can be controlled via config changes rather than having to re deploy all of your code. Its something we use in the software industry very commonly and helps with mitigating risk, as well as allowing us to turn on experimental features in test environments while keeping the the old functionality available. Great job on the project and successfully landing with the newest changes!

[@Project-Horizon]

I work a lot with Software Engineers and they do this on a lot of projects. I have no idea why I never thought to do the same for this project... Thank you for the suggestion!

[@TheZooloo10]

@@Project-Horizon glad I could help!

[@alwaysright8157]

Your landing gear is starting to resemble Piper Cub suspension. Super simple and has been doing its job for almost 90 years.

[@bananagod0077]

incredible!

[@jdpg265]

Great job and landing but will the park charge you for burning the rubber infield surface?

[@AstonRBLX_LLD7]

Congrats AGIAN

[@ShanesGettingHandy]

A little late now, but the common washing machine rod suspension might have been an out of the box win. They're basically exactly what you needed, springs and damping built in, although not necessarily as light or easy to tune.

[@ASI-l2w]

Rather than springs on a ratchet, incorporate shock absorbers? Then you won’t get the leaning over on landing if one leg collapses more than the others. Great job and enjoyable video. Thanks. 👍🏻

[@alexanderfederowicz]

Well done 👍👍👍 is it at all possible to mount a small stabilization gyroscope in there so that your rocket is kept gyro stabilized.... Also, have you ever encountered electrically controlled solid fuel rocket motors ? They only burn and thrust as long as there is a small electrical current going to the fuel... In such a manner, could you not use a motor controller chip process for precise deceleration. Combined that with the gyros stabilization and you could have some very interesting precision flights as well as precision landings !!!

[@robertobissanti]

Excellent work. If I can suggest something: the dumping system should be made by spring and shock absorber, there are many shock absorber useful for this use, like as the gas spring used in the kitchen. The point, more difficult, it’s the use of aerodynamic stabilization system, like as that mounted in spaceX rocket, they’re a three grids opened sideways. Even more difficult would be a greater regulation of the thrust, which should not turn off completely until the end of the landing. Finally, why not just use three legs instead of four? You should get more stability and reduce weight, cost and complexity. Good work and congratulations again for your commitment.

[@debapratim3976]

Congrats man this is so cool

[@daddouuuu]

Please don’t stop launching rockets 😢 I literally just subscribed for that 😅

[@Project-Horizon]

Don't worry, I will keep launching rockets 😄 I just want to move onto other rocket projects ideas of mine since Eagle has taken up all my time since 2021.

[@metropolis10]

Great work! I was really hoping you would go for a large number of successes. I know twice isn't a fluke, but some consecutive successes would be nice! Maybe even dial it in even more. Or land after a higher flight height. But I understand wanting to move on and calling it done.

[@Project-Horizon]

Thanks! I think all of that would be really cool too! After almost 4 years though on this project I was starting to feel burnt out on it (yes I intend all my puns) and wanted to pursue other fun rocket ideas. But you never know, I may end up doing more Eagle stuff in the future 😏

[@АлександрМойсеев-д4ь]

Springs is very good idea

[@HeIsGreaterThanI]

Friking Amazing! Elon should see this!

[@YouTubeRanch]

Cool. Nice work.

[@AdamAlistair]

The WorkMate 425 made me smile. iykyk

[@Astronomator]

This is a spectacularly fun project. Thanks for all the videos. I'm curious, though: Did you make any use of partial differential equations to any extent in your analyses when designing this rocket or the control software? Thanks.

[@superme_pl898]

Your videos are so under rated imagine he made mods for KSP1 and 2 or maybe the upcoming SFS 2?

[@Creator-o7x]

You can use small nails .while landing they could dig in ground

[@drfiberglass]

Way above my pay grade but fun watching. Good job..

[@robertpeters9438]

Perhaps you could have feelers that sense the ground and apply magnetic damping when all legs touch down. This should keep the lander legs from imparting such an angular momentum from uneven touchdown.

[@normaal4663]

I can't wait for your next project, a mini mechazilla rocket catching tower .... with your skills that should be no problem ....

[@michaelcurley7801]

It was the Estes Mars Lander in my day. (Mid-70's)

[@diamondzfriend5262]

Might I suggest using torsion springs to not only extend the legs when released but also provide suspension?

[@peter360adventures9]

Awesome work.

[@maxhugen]

Nice, very well done. When do you expect to get to LEO? 😎🇦🇺

[@kkuenzel56]

Very impressive!

[@mdoyle1981]

I wonder what a servo controlled aperture/blast deflector would do for throttling a solid rocket motor? Very nice work, I remember that first landing in your earlier video, such a great milestone.

[@jundergaming]

Time to add a second stage

[@stephenfranks1856]

Nudest

[@MohanasaiKrishna-07]

If you maintain the balance of centre of mass by putting extra mechanism then it can land successfully

[@millamulisha]

If you’re landing on the grass or dirt, consider some sort of hooks or hooking mechanism on the feet of the landing legs so as soon as they touch the ground they can ‘dig in’ and plant the vehicle. My two cents. 🤷‍♂️

[@utubetravman]

Lawn darts have unfortunately been banned in the United States.

[@RSLT]

AWESOME LIKED AND SUBSCRIBED ❤❤❤❤

[@Notconvex]

SpaceX cant land a rocket but this guy can

[@icarossavvides2641]

Interesting, can I make a couple of suggestions? Get rid of the 'one way friction damping' mechanism, the friction variability is something you can do without, and install a proper, damped, shock absorbing system, look at RC cars. Second, have you tried TOF sensor(s) to measure the height above ground so you can trigger the landing rocket ignition more accurately?

[@Vinlaell]

Super cool!

[@Neuralatrophy]

You need a landing shock that will absorb quickly like you have now but release slowly so the unit doesn't sit off balance if it makes a rocket hop or pitches sideways like landing 2.

[@DemsW]

I think small hydraulic dampeners might also work well and would simplify the design (also wouldn't wear out) but I respect the fully DIY cheaper build.