Ultimate Water Rocket Parachute Deploy Mechanism

This week, we show we make the newly developed Parachute Deployment System for model rockets. The web companion to this video is here: www.uswaterrock... on our website.
The new Radial Deploy Parachute System was designed and published to improve and simplify recovery systems, which have seen little attention for almost a decade. This video shows how the system is built, armed, and operated.
If you want to make a Servo Deploy Controller for your rocket, we recommend you see the video about our Make-It-Yourself Altimeter for Water Rockets. You can find out more by looking at the following link: • How to make a Parachut...

[@SidlyBoDidly222]

Great channel. Definitely one of my all time favorite films. In my old life I would make a daily trip to the largest prop houses in LA... it was a dream job.

[@pineapple8375]

new from the start, this was going to be and awesome channel. you guys rock, USWaterRockets!

[@USWaterRockets]

Hey, thanks for the kind words! It makes this really worthwhile. Glad you enjoy this stuff.

[@abhinavchamoli7857]

thanks a lot for this amazing tutorial, really helps me in my school projects!😁

[@cjthomp2005]

This is awesome! I'm going to use this on my school rocket project

[@Oli4vn]

Thanks, this is what I planned to be making next week! But I had almost no idea how to do it!

[@RimstarOrg]

Nice design. What software did you use for the animation? PS. Your title spells radial as redial.

[@USWaterRockets]

Thanks for the spelling correction. How did we miss that??!? Thanks for the feedback on the design. You understand that simplicity is often the best feature of any experiment or design. This shows in your great videos. The animations were done with flash and after effects. There are probably better tools for this kind of work, but it was for a class project, so the effort to climb the steep learning curve was worthwhile.

[@bugwubber]

So I've been thinking about this for a few days now and I have to say, this is a great design change. This may very well get me to dust off my parachutes! Well done y'all! And thanks for sharing.

[@USWaterRockets]

We love that we can build this in 5-10 minutes. It's even easier to make then our axial deploy system. We're hoping to see someone use a Tomy Timer with this. That would be cool

[@bugwubber]

USWaterRockets Done. :-)

[@USWaterRockets]

bugwubber That was easy!

[@bugwubber]

USWaterRockets Yes it really was. I have never used a clockworks before. Thus method works really well with the style of rockets I build- I just switched to a long neck DP bottle to maximize space for the parachute.

[@USWaterRockets]

bugwubber Remember: If you have a claw foot for the top of the rocket, you can just tape on a neck cut off another bottle as an adapter.

[@rocketpartsbavaria2237]

That Sounds like a good parachute System for greater rockets. we will try it out Greetings from Germany :-)

[@USWaterRockets]

Many thanks! You may also want to check out the channel of our friend Raketfued Rockets who are from your country and have modified this system to function with a Tomy Timer. His videos are impressive.

[@rocketpartsbavaria2237]

USWaterRockets we also know them we had the idea for our launcher from them

[@USWaterRockets]

No worries! It's nice to see that these videos we make are helping others with their designs. We look forward to seeing your projects in the future!

[@index7787]

This is genius.

[@USWaterRockets]

+Chase Wood Hey thanks! Glad you like it.

[@index7787]

I'm def going to try this out on my multi-stage with boosters.(because cool factor out weighs efficiency in my book, ) Gonna need 7.....

[@thorinti3666]

Mis felicitaciones por sus nuevos aportes sobre cohetes de agua. Me parece una excelente idea para poder poner mi saludo en el cohete vuela cayendo como una sonda. Aqui les dejo para que vean en que consiste COHETE DESPLEGANDO UN SALUDO Saludos y gracias desde Uruguay

[@USWaterRockets]

Thanks! We are pleased that you like this idea.

[@2fbDJLL]

Awesome idea!!!

[@sennetor]

two servos attached to the fins with an R/C receiver means you can have way more fun after launch and ditch the parachute.

[@ptx855]

Thx for sharing these great ideas!

[@USWaterRockets]

You're welcome! We encourage everyone to take our ideas and use them and see if there are ways we can improve them! Thanks for watching and commenting on our video!

[@pezton3974]

Awesome!!!!

[@louiswillems2951]

hey nice catamarans on the back ground : )

[@USWaterRockets]

Thanks! It's a "Tequila Sunrise" Hobie16. We love it!

[@RaketfuedrocketsDeutschland]

Awesome job, very good video and a really good idea. =) You get better and better, well done =) Greetings from Germany

[@USWaterRockets]

Thanks Raketfued! We are really pleased with this idea and have used it for many flights. You will see more of the tests in one of our next videos. You and Aircommando Walldorf have really been doing some top quality editing of your rocket videos, so you motivated us to try and keep working on quality production and editing in our work as well. You guys are going to make everyone look like amateurs by stepping up the video quality. Rocket launch season is almost here in USA! We are so excited!

[@RaketfuedrocketsDeutschland]

USWaterRockets Wow, thank you for the really nice words =) The truth is, that we´re just the amateurs with our little rockets ;) We´re just a community of four students who builds water rockets, and it´s amazing to communicate with water rocket builders around the world. Our main launch season will start in May, but we´ll try to launch the Swallow 1B this friday. Greetings from Germany

[@akonsa.t.8299]

Why would the rubber band release itself

[@ismaelgomez9493]

genial.... pero tengo una duda. en el seg 30.esa pequeña baquela o "chip" la que activa al servo motor, donde se consiguen? o como se arman? y como se configura para que se abra en el momento necesario? agradezco la info...

[@USWaterRockets]

+ISMAEL RICARDO We offer two free designs you can build to control the servo motor:Basic Timer Design: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2q2gmOApZZ5idV1dvanced Altimeter Design: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oniZfXWolrpgh80

[@coc7711]

my water rocket parachute design is only depends on the air and gravity,when a rocket stop climbing it fall and the trigger mechanism is simple like an umbrella style without any means of adding electronics,and i have some additional i made with my water rocket with a single stage bottle with a power of two bottle rocket combine by means of what i called GROUND BOOSTER which the second bottle is pressurized and connected to the launcher which help the single stage water rocket to climb fast.you could make also a multiple GROUND BOOSTER and connect it to the launcher.someday i will upload my video too,my idea of GROUND BOOSTER is like on the aircraft carrier that has a pressurized piston cylinder that help the airplane to climb fast,right?the advantage of what i call GROUND BOOSTER it could help to eliminate weight on the water rocket.

[@troypointerphotography]

what Triggers the Servo you did not show that and where you can buy 1 from ? troy

[@USWaterRockets]

The servo is triggered by one of the custom circuits we designed and show you how to build in our other tutorials: The first is the ServoChron Parachute Deploy Servo Timer www.uswaterrockets.com/documents/ServoChron/manual.htm, the second is the LaunchPad AlTImeter Servo Deploy Peak Altitude Altitmeter www.uswaterrockets.com/documents/LaunchPad_AlTImeter/manual.htm. You can probably find other similar projects that do the same thing that were inspired by our designs if you search the internet.

[@suoppsdn9751]

I am wondering how much does a timer circuit cost for the parachute deployment system? The reason I ask is that The DollarTree has little electronic egg timers that you set the time you like and when the time is up it buzzes. Suppose you took the buzzer off and hooked a motor instead? That way when the times went off it would spin the motor and deploy the parachute.

[@USWaterRockets]

I suppose that depends on where you live and what stores will deliver there. There are plenty of places that sell Arduino clones for really low prices $5.00US or less. One of those could be made into a servo timer. I am sure someone probably has made this software. It would be that, plus the cost of a servo and battery.

[@suoppsdn9751]

So would it be less money to buy an egg timer and a mini hand fan to take the motor off of it and rig it up to when the egg timer goes off it operates the motor you removed from the dollar hand fan? For two dollars you could make a timer that will spin a motor that works as the servomotor. You think that possibly could work or too hard to get the correct time down to release the parachute?

[@USWaterRockets]

This kind of design is similar to a common parachute design called a "Tomy Timer". A lot of people use this idea with a lot of success. We prefer the electronic timer because our experiments require very accurate timing. For many people they don't need precision just for having fun launching with a parachute.

[@norawilcox2758]

is there any other way to trigger the rubber band? without technology and things you can get from a store?

[@USWaterRockets]

You could use and air flap mechanism, which is made from a cut bottle or piece of fin material. You hinge it at the top to the rocket and pinch the rubber band under it. You hold the flap down pinching the rubber band with some kind of stick or pull-pin tied to the launcher. When the rocket launches the pin is pulled or stick is removed and the flap is free to lift up and let the rubber band loose, but the air blowing across the fin from the motion of the rocket will keep the flap from lifting up. Only when the rocket slows down enough will the flap be able to lift up and let the rubber band go. This design has been in use for a long time, but because of a lot of variables, it will never open exactly at the peak altitude of the rocket, unless you are very lucky. If you are trying for an altitude record, then you want to deploy at the peak altitude or just after peak altitude. To do that, you will need something that triggers electrically like a servo motor, or mechanically, like a wind-up timer, both of which you have to buy or take out of some other product you buy in a store. There are not a whole lot of options you can make out of household items, I am afraid. The air flap is the best bet for that. Good luck with your rockets!

[@Oli4vn]

Was the nosecone bulkhead waterproof? If so, how did you do that?

[@USWaterRockets]

Hi Oli4vn! Are you asking how we keep the electronics from getting wet? We have a good procedure to help prevent this that doesn't require a seal of the payload compartment. It is very hard to get a waterproof seal and still allow a mechanism to function, so instead we stop trying to seal and just try and keep the circuit dry. If you notice that the corriflute bulkhead where the electronics are fastened holds the circuit in the middle of the compartment away from the sides. When water comes in the compartment, it will only fill up the interior a little bit until the water inside is level with the water outside. The body of the rocket is light so it floats mostly on top of the water, so the water inside the compartment is never enough to reach the electronics. It works well enough that the servo and timer does not get ruined. We do have to waterproof our cameras though because they have to be on or near the outside of the rocket body and can get submerged if the rocket lands with the camera on the side that faces down. Does that answer your question?

[@gabrieldoudna6570]

ingenious

[@chiragrai8940]

can i know what's the internal pressure and the max height it can achieve??

[@USWaterRockets]

The maximum internal pressure depends on the type and diameter of the bottles you use for the rocket. Some bottles are better than others, and this can vary by your location because bottles are made by local bottling companies and each one has different molds and equipment. It is also possible to reinforce the bottles with fiberglass or other materials and enhance their ability to hold pressure. The maximum altitude depends on the pressure in the bottles as well as the volume of the rocket, and also the weight of the complete rocket. The rocket weight can be affected by the materials and techniques you use to make it. Because all of these variables are involved, some rockets will fly higher than others. The blue colored rocket in this video is capable of holding 150PSI and can fly 600-650 feet high. The yellow rocket in this video is capable of holding 175PSI and can fly 650-700 feet high. The two rockets are very different in size and weight.

[@chiragrai8940]

@@USWaterRockets in place of bottle why not use pvc pipes ?

[@USWaterRockets]

Two main reasons:1) PVC is not as strong as PETG (used for bottles), so the pipes have to have thick walls to hold the same pressure. This will make the rocket very heavy, and won't go as high.2) When a bottle has too much pressure in it, the PETG will stretch and tear and release the pressure somewhat safely. When PVC exceeds the pressure it can hold, it can shatter like glass and send tiny pieces flying rapidly everywhere and really hurt someone.Also, PVC pipes are pretty flexible, so when you make a big rocket from them, the rocket can bend like a spring when accelerating, and this can cause it to fly off in some random direction.

[@chiragrai8940]

@@USWaterRockets thanks, hey do u have any material or formulas for design of water rockets ,and can u suggest a data handbook??

[@stevenhills6005]

what launcher is used in this video?

[@USWaterRockets]

+Steven Hills There are 2 launchers shown in this video. The orange one is a metal tripod that the local school has for their science department. The white one is our own custom built launcher we call the "Instant Launcher" because it's a lot quicker to set up compared to our previous wooden launcher and launchers other people have built that borrow from the wooden design. We recorded the construction of this launcher but have not published a video about it. We would consider prioritizing a video about building the Instant Launcher if there was interest.

[@CryogenicCompliments]

*IS THERE ANYTHING THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE ELECTRONICS/ELECTRICITY?????*

[@USWaterRockets]

Yes, but it was the kind of designs that people had already worked out long before we came on the scene and we wanted to invent our own stuff instead of just making videos of things that everyone else already created. Look for tutorials about the Tomy Timer mechanism. That's a purely mechanical timer. Look for "Air Flap" designs as well. Those use air speed to trigger the system. Either of those will work, and can be used in place of the electronics in this design.

[@CryogenicCompliments]

Thanks! My hope has risen :D

[@cianbas]

Hey. Great idea. I had an idea of my own and I just want you it review it if possible. I am a young guy who is having a rocket home work and I had an idea. If I used a plastic bag and put it over the nose and taped the handles to the rocket I think it could deploy when it starts to go down. When taking off the forces of the take off should keep the bag over the nose cone however, when it starts to come down it has an opposite force there by deploying it with no electronics. I'm not sure if this will work however if you could proof read this than that would be great. Please read, Cian

[@USWaterRockets]

Hi Cian, There are several variations similar to your concept that people have successfully used in the past. The main issue people have reported is that the rocket has to fly perfectly vertical, stop at the peak, and then slowly tip over as it falls backwards. If the rocket curves off course and is not perfectly straight, it could fly in a big arc and the slowing air will keep the parachute from coming out. The idea does work, but people have found that it is not as reliable as a electronic (servo) or mechanical (tomy timer) deploy. If you spend hours and hours building a huge rocket, or and stick cameras and altimeters onboard, you want to make sure that the deploy is as reliable as possible. That's why people tend to use active deploy systems like ours. You can experiment with different styles and form your own opinion. That's what's great about this stuff. Everyone can refine their own methods and have fun. Keep it up!

[@cianbas]

On my Instagram (same name) I have uploaded some testing with a two litre bottle with a bit on weight on the bottom to ensure it doesn't tip. Thanks a million for the reply. Cian

[@RaketfuedrocketsDeutschland]

Hey, I have a little idea to make a rocket with this radial parachute deployment mechanism even smaller: If you place the parachute section between two pressure vessels, which are connected by a tonardo tube, and the timer/servo section between two other other vessels, you wouldn´t need the upper section and would make your rocket even lighter. Here is a concept: img5.fotos-hochladen.net/uploads/rdpm2bysr1za3fn.jpg Greetings

[@USWaterRockets]

Great idea! This is the kind of thinking we were hoping this idea generated. There are a lot of ways this design can be used. Your concept is similar to our setup for tornado tube couplers. If you look at the very last step in our tutorial, the second image shows how we placed the deploy system in the middle of a rocket www.uswaterrockets.com/construction_&_tutorials/Radial_Deploy/tutorial.htm We tried it with the electronics and servo in the tornado tube area and also with them located remotely and a wire running down the side to reach them.

[@RaketfuedrocketsDeutschland]

+USWaterRockets Hello USWR, we plan to write an article on our website about extra light parachute deploy systems and want to mention your radial deploy system. It would be great if we could use one of your photos for this purpose. Here is a link to a preview how we plan the article: onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=B45F871529485403!518680&authkey=!AIzH6asgP3uRQEE&v=3&ithint=photo%2cPNG Greetings =)

[@USWaterRockets]

RaketfuedRockets That sounds great! You can use our photos or diagrams if you want. That looks like a terrific article!

[@RaketfuedrocketsDeutschland]

+USWaterRockets Thanks! :)

[@MrJefferson105]

Technically there are 2 moving parts the servo arm and rubber band. Overall great design

[@waferr1129]

its pronounced as raw ket

[@pineapple8375]

*knew. sorry

[@Arlomuzzwho]

Do you have the code?

[@typicalgamer_1153]

When I use tape to connect the two ends of the bottle it is weak

[@USWaterRockets]

You have to use PL Premium Construction Adhesive. The tape on out rockets is only for decorative purposes. See our splicing tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnjbgKGrg913pbM

[@typicalgamer_1153]

Thank you !

[@suoppsdn9751]

I was wondering what you guys thought about a system that uses mercury bulb contacts to trigger the parachute when the rocket got as high as it was going to go and when it started to nose dive back down to earth it would trigger the servomotor to launch the parachute? You guys think that would work?

[@USWaterRockets]

Mercury switches and gravity switches have been attempted by others many years ago, without success. It was found that when the rocket reached the peak and started falling, that it was in a state where the effect of gravity is no longer felt by the rocket, so they switch would not activate in a reliable way because the rocket was experiencing zero G as it fell. It's not clear how to improve this to make it work. If you have a way to do it, then there would probably be a lot of interested people.

[@suoppsdn9751]

I thought about that problem also. The problem of zero gravity while free falling, but was wondering about a way to film the mercury bulb to see how it acts when it is in free fall to see if you put it in a different position so it would make contact with the contacts. But also thought it would be better to create a little thing with a BB in it that way you could place the contact just above the BB. That way when the rockets is traveling upwards the BB would be pegged at the bottom of the tube or whatever it was in but as it got to be as high as it would go and moved up any at all it would make contact with the contacts and spin the motor to release the parachute. I think the BB method would work better in that case

[@USWaterRockets]

Steve Rabon A group that makes water rocket kits made a video with a camera inside a water rocket showing what happens to small objects as the rocket goes up. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3vWdnqKZ7WWa6M As you can see, right after the thrust runs out, the rocket goes into a coasting mode until it reaches the peak, but when the rocket is coasting, wind resistance is making it go slower, so it actually is in negative G at that point. Everything inside the rocket goes to the front of the chamber. Than there is a period of zero G as the rocket falls down. The problem people have is that the rocket goes from 1G on the pad to some big number (say 10G) during thrust, then instantly it switches to some negative value from drag during coast phase (say -0.25G) and then a very gradual switch to 0G as the rocket slows to a stop at apogee and then starts falling. The way that the gravity force doesn't have a very distinct change at the apogee peak is why it is hard to detect with a gravity sensor. You can very easily make something that senses the launch because it goes from 1G to 10G almost instantly. You can detect the end of the thrust phase because it goes from 10G to -0.25G almost instantly, but the very gradual transition from -0.25G to 0G is really tough to detect with a mechanical switch. We created an electronic timer called ServoChron that can be triggered from the launch phase and deploy a fixed interval later, and then we created the Launchpad AlTImeter to actually measure the changes in altitude and deploy the parachute at the exact moment of apogee. We've had good luck with this and shared the designed for both of these systems which are relatively easy to build. Our engineering background is more electronic and less mechanical, so these designs are the type we are most proficient at. Someone with a better mechanical engineering background would be more able to design a purely mechanical system to detect the peak. Given the behavior of the G forces observed inside the rocket, it seems like a difficult challenge.

[@suoppsdn9751]

I think I got it this time. OK at the top of the rocket where the pay load is. You have a small cylinder that comes out the top from the last bottle cap. In that cylinder you have a small piston that when you pressurize the rocket it forces the metal piston up the little cylinder and when the rocket depressurizes it sucks the piston back down the cylinder where it hits the contacts to spin the motor. You understand what I am trying to say?