1

DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OF AN

ELECTRIC THRUST POWERED VTOL
MINIATURISED ROCKET

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Technology
In
Mechanical Engineering

By
Aman Chandulal Movalia
16BME0114

Under the guidance of

Dr. Mallikarjuna Reddy

School of Mechanical Engineering
VIT, Vellore.

May, 2020
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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “Design And

Manufacturing Of An Electric Thrust Powered VTOL Miniaturized Rocket "
submitted by me, for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical
Engineering to VIT is a record of bonafide work carried out by me under the
supervision of Dr. Mallikarjuna Reddy.
I further declare that the work reported in this thesis has not been submitted and
will not be submitted, either in part or in full, for the award of any other degree or
diploma in this institute or any other institute or university.

Place : Vellore
Date : 18th May 2020

AMAN CHANDULAL MOVALIA

Signature of the Candidate
 3

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the thesis entitled “Design and Manufacturing of an Electric
Thrust Powered VTOL Miniaturized Rocket” submitted by Aman Movalia (16BME0114),
School of Mechanical Engineering, VIT, for the award of the degree of Bachelor of
Technology in Mechanical Engineering, is a record of bonafide work carried out by him /
her under my supervision during the period, 01. 12. 2018 to 30.04.2019, as per the VIT code
of academic and research ethics.

The contents of this report have not been submitted and will not be submitted either in
part or in full, for the award of any other degree or diploma in this institute or any other
institute or university. The thesis fulfills the requirements and regulations of the University
and in my opinion meets the necessary standards for submission.

Place : Vellore
Date : 18th May 2020 Signature of the Guide

Internal Examiner External Examiner

Head of the Department

Mechanical Engineering
 4

Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Mallikarjuna Reddy, Head of Department –
Design and Automation, School of Mechanical Engineering, VIT University, Vellore for his
effective guidance throughout our efforts for the development of the project and successful
delivery of the project objectives. The work could not have been competed without the
suggestions and valuable tips given by him. He encouraged us to study and collect enough
material on the subject and helped clear doubts that came along. His constant encouragement
and regular check on the progress enabled us to complete the work in time.

We would also like to express our gratitude to the DIGIMAN Lab - ALM Building for their
immense support and help in providing the 3D printed components used in the project. Our
project would certainly have not been finished without their help and guidance.

Besides, some technical details enlisted in this report have been taken directly from certain
works that have been enlisted in the references provided.

Last but not the least, the timely completion of the project could not have been possible
without the moral support extended by our families, friends.

Aman Chandulal Movalia

16BME0114
Student Name
 5

Executive Summary

The project is about designing and manufacturing a thrust vectoring system for model
rockets, thus allowing a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) approach. Due to the smaller
scale of rocket, electric thrust system will act as the propulsion system. On-board sensors and
computing systems will act as the guidance control for the rocket. All the telemetry data will
be wirelessly transmitted to a ground control station (GCS). The guidance system can be
manually controlled via GCS or it can be automated. The rocket will be able to perform
autonomous flights with the help of onboard computing systems according to a pre-
determined flight plan. Many types of payloads can be attached with the rocket including
sensors, cargo, cameras etc. Once the takeoff will be detected, thrust vectoring is activated,
in-flight abort is armed and high frequency data logging begins. The rocket will be
manufactured majorly with Depron foam, balsa wood sticks and carbon fiber composites.
Due to the VTOL approach of the rocket, it has the capability of automatic Take-Off and
Landing which has a very wide use of applications, such as logistics delivery, aerial
photography, inspections, STEM activities and many more.
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements......................................................................................................4

Executive Summary.....................................................................................................5

List of Figures..............................................................................................................8
List of Tables..............................................................................................................10

List of Abbreviations.................................................................................................11

1 Introduction.............................................................................................................12

1.1 Objective....................................................................................................12

1.2 Motivation..................................................................................................12

1.3 Background................................................................................................12

2. Project Description and Goals..............................................................................15

2.1 Project Description...................................................................................15

2.1.1 Tail Thrust Vectoring System(TTVS).......................................15

2.1.2 Attitude Control Thrust Vectoring System (ACTVS)..............16

2.2 Project Goals.............................................................................................16
3. Technical Specifications........................................................................................17
3.1 Rocket.........................................................................................................17
3.2 Tail Thrust Vectoring System (TTVS)....................................................17
3.2.1 Motor...........................................................................................17
3.2.2 Electronic Speed Controller......................................................19

3.2.3 Propeller ......................................................................................20

3.2.4 Power Systems .............................................................................20

3.2.5 Manual Control Receiver ...........................................................21

3.2.6 Long Range Telemetry Communication System......................21

3.2.7 Primary Flight Controller..........................................................47

3.2.8 Power Module..............................................................................24

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3.3 Attitude Control Thrust Vectoring System (ACTVS)...........................24

3.3.1 Motor............................................................................................24

3.3.2 Secondary Flight Controller & Electronic Speed Controller..26

3.3.3 Propeller.......................................................................................27

3.3.4 Secondary Power Systems...........................................................47

3.4 Ground Control Station............................................................................28

3.5 Mission Planner Software........................................................................29

3.5.1 Overview.......................................................................................29

3.5.2 Mission Planning.........................................................................29

4. Design Approach and Details...............................................................................35

4.1 Design Approach.......................................................................................35

4.2 Materials and Methods.............................................................................36

4.2.1 Additive Manufacturing Process................................................36

4.2.2 Manufacturing of Rocket............................................................38

4.3 Codes and Standards................................................................................39

5. Schedule and Milestones.......................................................................................47

5.1 Schedule.....................................................................................................47

5.2 Milestones..................................................................................................47

6. Project Demonstrations.........................................................................................47

6.1 Flight Plan..................................................................................................47

6.2 Waypoint Data Table................................................................................47

6.3 Telemetry Data..........................................................................................47

6.4 Telemetry Data Graphs ...........................................................................47

7. Cost Analysis..........................................................................................................47

8. Summary................................................................................................................47

9. References...............................................................................................................50
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List of Figures

Figure Title Page No.

No.
1.1 Schematic of Entry Concepts for VTOL Rocket 13
1.2 Flight Sequence of a reusable sounding rocket 13
1.3 Ductile fan Structure of ORBOT 14
2.1 Rocket Components 15
2.2 Rocket Control 15
2.3 Nose – ACTVS 16
3.1 Rocket Body Components 17
3.2 Primary Motor 17
3.3 Thrust v/s Time 19
3.4 Current v/s Time 19
3.5 RPM v/s Time 19
3.6 Power v/s Time 19
3.7 ESC 19
3.8 Carbon Fiber Propeller 20
3.9 Primary Battery 20
3.10 Receiver 21
3.11 Communication Module 21
3.12 PixHawk Flight Controller 22
3.13 PixHawk Components 24
3.14 Power Module 24
3.15 Emax Eco Motor 24
3.16 Thrust v/s Throttle 25
3.17 Current v/s Throttle 25
3.18 RPM v/s Throttle 26
3.19 Power v/s Throttle 26
3.20 FC – ESC Stack 26
3.21 5 inch Propeller 27
3.22 Secondary Battery 27
3.23 Component Flow Chart 28
3.24 User Interface Screen 29
3.25 Mission Rewind Example – 1 30
3.26 Mission Rewind Example – 2 31
3.27 GCS Data Screen 32
3.28 Compass Calibration Orientation 33
3.29 Live Compass Calibration 33
3.30 Accelerometer Calibration Orientation 33
3.31 Transmitter 34
3.32 Radio Calibration 34
3.33 Transmitter Modes 34
4.1 Tail Base 35
4.2 Nose Base 35
4.3 Thrust Motor Base 35
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4.4 Tail Thrust Fins 35

4.5 ACTVS Battery Base 35
4.6 TTVS Battery Base 35
4.7 3D Printer 36
4.8 3D Printed Motor Mount 37
4.9 3D Printing PLA Spool 37
4.10 Rocket Rear End 38
4.11 Nose Thrust Vectoring System 38
4.12 L/D (max) v/s Lb/Rb 39
4.13 Nose Dimensional Ratio 39
4.14 L/D v/s Angle of Attack 39
4.15 Cm v/s Angle of Attack 39
4.16 Flight Plan 44
4.17 Altitude v/s Time 45
4.18 Pitch Attitude v/s Time 45
4.19 Roll Attitude v/s Time 45
4.20 Yaw Attitude v/s Time 45
4.21 Current consumed v/s Time 45
4.22 Vibration (3 axes) v/s Time 45
4.23 Throttle v/s Time 46
4.24 Rocket Heading v/s Time 46
4.25 Groundspeed v/s Time 46
4.26 Airspeed consumed v/s Time 46
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List of Tables

Table No. Title Page No.

Table 1 Primary Motor Characteristics Data Sheet 18

Table 2 Secondary Motor Characteristics Data Sheet 25

Table 3 Milestones 41

Table 4 Waypoint Data Table 44

Table 5 Home Location 44

Table 6 Cost Analysis 47

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List of Abbreviations

UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

UAS Unmanned Aerial Systems
VTOL Vertical Take-Off and Landing
GCS Ground Control Station
PLA Poly Lactic Acid
STEM Science, Technology, Engineering & Math
TVS Thrust Vectoring System
NTVS Nose Thrust Vectoring System
TTVS Tail Thrust Vectoring System
ESC Electronic Speed Controller
FC Flight Controller
CFC Central Flight Controller
ACFC Attitude Control Flight Controller
3D Three Dimensional
CG Centre of Gravity
CP Centre of Pressure
 12

1. Introduction

1.1. Objective

With the upcoming advancements brought up in the field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAV), safety and efficiency has become an important priority. More and more aerodynamic
designs are introduced to increase efficiency of the vehicles. Hence, the main objective of the
project is to introduce a UAV in the shape of a rocket, which is electrically propelled with the
help of motors. The rocket will be able to take-off and land on the surface vertically in a
VTOL fashion. The rocket will have a payload bay where the payload according to the
application can be placed which can then carry out the respective task. Another objective of
the project will be the autonomous execution of the rocket on a pre-determined Flight Plan.
The rocket will be scheduled to land at a particular defined landing zone as a part of the
autonomous execution.

• Design and Manufacturing of a VTOL model rocket

• Achievement of successful take-off and landing at a pre-determined landing zone
• Successful deployment of Thrust Vectoring System at Nose and Tail Section
• Autonomous execution of the rocket on a pre-determined Flight Plan

1.2. Motivation

Due to upcoming advancements in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Systems in a variety of

applications in security, logistics, atmospheric experiments, surveillance, aerial photography
and many more, it’s imperative to bring out solutions in the favor of technology in order to
ease out tasks in the above mentioned fields. Quadcopter – drone with four rotors is very
popular in these fields; however it’s considered a threat to the society and has certain social
disadvantages.
In order to increase flight time, efficiency and safety of the payload carried by the rocket, a
whole new approach towards drones is required. Hence, this project focuses on the
innovation brought on model rockets and the solutions brought by it. Unlike traditional model
rockets which land using parachutes, our design will be able to land a rocket up-right and
make trajectory corrections in order to achieve an accurate landing in the landing zone. This
has the capability of re-using the same rockets just after a brief maintenance period.

1.3. Background

S. Nonaka, H. Ogawa and Y. Inatani at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
Sagamihara, researched upon aerodynamic design considerations on vertical landing vehicles.
The paper focused on the nose design considerations during take-off and landing. Two
different types of landing approach were introduced – Nose Entry and Base Entry. The body
consists of a blunted nose of radius, a fore cone of half-apex angle, a cylindrical section, and
an aft cone of aft angle. Static stability conditions of the vehicle at trim is one of the most
important requirements for the ballistic reentry. The stability and trim depend on the position
of the center of gravity CG and center of pressure CP. In reality, however, it may be difficult
to achieve the stability in nose entry because the VTOL characteristics of the vehicle drive
the CG to be further back toward the base where the engines systems are located. As the CG
for a nose entry vehicle should be typically found at a point between 55 and 65 % of body
 13

length in order to meet static stability, the CG must be positioned near the nose to obtain high
stability at trim. If such CG positioning is possible by system arrangements, the stability
during not only the descent phase but also ascent one will be kept since the long cylindrical
section tends to move the CP position toward the base, the suitable length of the cylindrical
section may improve the stability.

Figure 1.1
Schematic of Entry Concepts for VTOL Rocket

Yoshifumi Inatani and Yoshihiro Naruo at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science,
Sagamihara, researched upon a fully reusable rocket vehicle that is proposed to demonstrate
good operability characteristics both on the ground and in flight. A number of performance-
related innovations are needed for future space transportation systems such as fully reusable
launch vehicles. High-performance engines and super-lightweight materials and structures are
the technologies needed to be ready to build these future vehicles. In addition to these
technical challenges, it is necessary for the flight and the ground operations of these advanced
vehicles to be closer to those of aircraft. The first goals of the vehicle were to achieve full
reusability and enhanced operability and to demonstrate the benefits of good reusability.

ding rocket
 14

A. Safaee, S. Z. Moussavi, M. S. Mehrabani and M. B. Menhaj presented a paper on

“Construction and Control of Monocopter Using MEMS AHRS” at the 11th IEEE
International Conference on Control and Automation (ICCA). Monocopter is a single-wing
rotary flight system which has the capability of hovering. This flyer includes two dynamic
parts in which more efficiency can be expected in comparison to other Micro UAVs due to
the extended area of wing compared to its frame. Low capital cost and simple mechanism in
comparison to other systems such as helicopter are the most important specifications of this
flight system. The setting of central gravity in this flyer is an important and precise factor. If
the central gravity of system is further away from fly bar, the cone angle of flying in the
system will increase. 1.6 kg thrust force has been employed as a forward driving force in this
system. The hardware of the flight system is composed of a MEMS AHRS system for
measuring the situation angles and flyer heading, a GPS system for identify the flyer position,
a flight computer, an RC radio control receiver and RF modem for monitoring and data
acquisition. The most important factor in mono- copter control is the identification of heading
angle of flying. In this system, AHRS and GPS have been used for this purpose. This
structure acts as a very fast compass which gives the data such as position and flight heading
to the system. In this project, after preparing the flight platform and the hardware of control
system, the presented control algorithm was implemented on the system and the control
parameters were set by using several tests.
Manas Kumar Das, P. Muthu Kumar and A. Anitha manufactured an ORBOT – An efficient
and intelligent mono copter. UAV’s having four propellers are always a threat to the society
and having some security advantages. The main objective of their project was to present the
safest drone. Orbot is the modern method of copters and having single propeller powered
with a brushless motor. The mono copter will be controlled and monitored through a GUI
which is specially built for this.
The copter’s motion control is defined in three angles of rotation names as Pitch, Yaw and
Roll. There are four valves placed below the brushless motor and controlled by servo motors.
Due to the motion of these valves, the copter can be able to move in all the four directions.

Figure 1.3
Ductile Fan Structure of ORBOT
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2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND GOALS

2.1 Project Description

Our project focuses on a new type of UAV – Monocopter. The Monocopter is equipped
inside a rocket for including a payload bay for various applications such as logistics delivery,
aerial photography, inspections, STEM activities and many more. The rocket consists of three
main parts – Nose, Fuselage and Tail. There are two thrust vectoring system situated at the
nose and tail of the rocket.

Figure 2.1
Rocket Components
There are two Thrust Vectoring Systems – Tail Thrust Vectoring System (TTVS) at tail and
Attitutde Control Thrust Vectoring System (ACTVS) at nose.

2.1.1 Tail Thrust Vectoring System (TTVS)

TTVS consists of two big brushless electric motors which will act as the main
source of thrust production. The electric motors used are Emax 3515 650KV
4S – 6S brushless motor. The two motors will be attached co-axially two
produce enough thrust for propelling the rocket for flight. There are four
movable tail fins attached at the bottom which will vector the thrust and
produce movements along the three axes – pitch, roll and yaw. These four fins
will be actuated by standard servos and will move according to the required
attitude of the rocket for the flight plan.

Figure 2.2
Rocket Control
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2.1.2 Attitude Control Thrust Vectoring System

(ACTVS)

ACTVS will be located at the nose cone of the rocket.

There will be four motors attached on the nose in a ‘+’
section. These four motors will control the attitude of the
rocket and the moment along the CG line. The motors used
in ACTVS will be Emax Eco 2306 2400KV motor. With
the thrust produced by the motors along the pitch and yaw
axes, it will increase the pitching moment combined with
TTVS.
Figure 2.3
2.2 Project Goals
Nose - ACTVS
With the upcoming advancements brought up in the field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAV), safety and efficiency has become an important priority. More and more aerodynamic
designs are introduced to increase efficiency of the vehicles. Hence, the main objective of the
project is to introduce a UAV in the shape of a rocket, which is electrically propelled with the
help of motors. The rocket will be able to take-off and land on the surface vertically in a
VTOL fashion. The rocket will have a payload bay where the payload according to the
application can be placed which can then carry out the respective task. Another objective of
the project will be the autonomous execution of the rocket on a pre-determined Flight Plan.
The rocket will be scheduled to land at a particular defined landing zone as a part of the
autonomous execution.

• Design and Manufacturing of a VTOL model rocket

• Achievement of successful take-off and landing at a pre-determined landing zone
• Successful deployment of Thrust Vectoring System at Nose and Tail Section
• Autonomous execution of the rocket on a pre-determined Flight Plan
 17

3. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
3.1 Rocket

Figure 3.1
Rocket Body Components

3.2 Tail Thrust Vectoring System (TTVS)

3.2.1 Motor

There are two electric brushless motors Emax 3515 650KV

Brushless motors in the rocket placed coaxially. EMAX MT3515
650KV Brushless DC Motor is particularly designed for heavy lift
applications while being highly efficient and dependable. MT3515
650KV BLDC motor can produce up to 2.8kg of thrust when
perfectly synced with appropriate battery and propellers, so this
one is more than adequate for your heavy lift applications.
This EMAX MT3515 650KV Brushless DC Motor equips the high-
quality bearings to safeguard efficient and vibration free operation
and silicone steel for high-performance operation with low
temperature. These motors are specially meant for multirotors such
as tricopter, quadcopter, hexacopter etc.
Figure 3.2
Primary Motor
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Table 1: Primary Motor Characteristics Datasheet:

The Propeller Current Thrust (g) Power Efficiency Speed
Voltage size (A)
(W) (g/W) (RPM)
(V)
22.2V 1238 2 390 44.4 8.8 4320
Carbon
Fiber 4 650 88.8 7.3 5550
Propeller 6 880 133.2 6.6 6370
8 1120 177.6 6.3 7060
10 1300 222 5.9 7570
12 1450 266.4 5.4 7940
14 1640 310.8 5.3 8270
16 1780 355.2 5.0 8730
18 1920 399.6 4.8 8990
20 2050 444 4.6 9310
22 2260 488.4 4.6 9640
24 2320 532.8 4.4 9780
27.3 2550 606.06 4.2 10150
22.2V 1340 2 410 44.4 9.2 4400
Carbon
Fiber 4 700 88.8 7.9 5680
Propeller 6 940 133.2 7.1 6600
8 1210 177.6 6.8 7380
10 1430 222 6.4 7810
12 1610 266.4 6 8340
14 1720 310.8 5.5 8730
16 1900 355.2 5.3 9130
18 2060 399.6 5.2 9470
20 2270 444 5.1 9740
22 2400 488.4 4.9 10000
24 2550 532.8 4.8 10300
26 2650 577.2 4.6 10500
28.3 2800 628.3 4.5 10780
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Graphs:

3000 30

2500 25

2000 20

1500 15
Thrust Current
1000 10

500 5

0 0
5 20 35 45 60 75 90
Throttle (%) Throttle (%)
Figure 3.3 Thrust v/s Time Figure 3.4 Current v/s Time

700
12000
600
10000
500
8000
400
6000 Power
RPM 300
4000
200
2000 100
0 0
5 20 35 45 60 75 90 5 20 35 45 60 75 90
Throttle (%) Throttle (%)

Figure 3.5 RPM v/s Time Figure 3.6 Power v/s Time

3.2.2 Electronic Speed Controller

There are two Emax Ready to Sky 40A Electronic Speed
Controllers connected to two brushless motors for
controlling them via PWM signals.

Features:
 Using Multintegrated circuitopter special program, fast
throttle response, betters all kinds of open source
software.

 Firmware was enhanced specifintegrated circuitally for

disc motor, and it has a very good compatibility.
 Greatly intelligent, strong adaptive capability, reserve
the timing setting item height/middle timing, easy to use. Figure 3.7 ESC
 20

 Throttle signal line is twisted wire to reduce crosstalk within the transmission signal
generated by the copper, so that more steady flight.

 Supports refresh rates up to 621Hz throttle signal, harmonious with various flight controllers.
(Note: the throttle signal over 500Hz are all non-standard throttle signal)
 Using MOSFET special driver integrated circuit, its operation and stability far surpass the
driving circuit with discrete components built.

 Ultra-low resistance MOSFET, strong flow capacity.

 Continuous Current: 40 Amperes

 Burst Current (10sec): 60 Amperes

 Lipo: 2-6S

 Firmware: Hobbywing Xrotor 40A

3.2.3 Propeller
There are two coaxial motors on which the
carbon fiber propellers are mounted. The
propeller has a diameter of 13 inches and
pitch of magnitude 4 inches. The propeller
has a mounting hole of 7.7 mm.

Figure 3.8 Carbon Fiber Propeller

3.2.4 Power Systems

The primary power system consists of Tattu 8000mAh 6S

22.2V Lipo battery (15C). The battery with light weight,
efficient discharge and long flight time, this 8000mAh 6S
Lipo is best suited for specially designed for aerial video and
FPV multi-rotor aircraft. It is a high capacity battery
designed specifically for multirotor use. It is small in size
and light in weight. It has 20% higher flight time when
paralleled with a similar rating battery.
 
Specifications: Figure 3.9 Primary Battery

 Capacity: 8000mAh  Height: 43.10 (±2mm)

 Voltage: 22.2 V
 Discharge Rate: 25C
 Configuration: 6S1P
 Length: 152.70 (±5mm)  Wire Gauge: 10# AWG
 Width: 72.10 (±2mm)  Discharge Wire Length: 156 mm
 21

3.2.5 Manual Control Receiver

FrSky L9R Long Range 2.4GHz Receiver is

incorporated with the flight controller and is used for
manual control over the rocket. FrSky’s L9R receiver
presents 12 available channels (9 via normal PWM
outputs and all 12 channels on the dedicated Sbus
output). FrSky receiver has really marvelous long range
capabilities.
Specifications:

 Dimension: 46.25x 26.6 x 14.2mm(L x W x H) Figure 3.10 Receiver

 Weight: 19g
 Antenna: PCB Antenna
 Number of Channels: 1~9ch from conventional channel outputs, 1~12ch from SBUS
port
 RSSI output: Analog RSSI output (0~3.3V)
 Operating Voltage Range: 4.0~10V
 Operating Current: 100mA@5V
 Operating Range: about 2 times of the operating range for X-series receiver
 Compatibility: FrSky X-series Module (XJT) etc. in LR12 mode (Switch 1 is OFF,
Switch 2 is ON); FrSky Taranis X9D etc. in LR12 mode; L9R receiver does not work
with FrSky V8, D8, and D16 Mode.

3.2.6 Long Range Telemetry Communication System

Telemetry is very vital in the operation of the rocket.
Different characteristics data such as altitude, pitch,
roll, yaw, GPS location, GPS satellite count, Battery
voltage, RSSI, Distance to waypoint and many more.
Hence, a very reliable RFD900+ 900MHz Long
Range Telemetry Communications System is
equipped with the flight controller in the rocket. The
RFD900 is a long range data telemetry modem
operating in the 902-928MHz ISM band. Operating
at 1W transmission power, it is capable of holding a
data link at over 40km. Compatible with APM 2.x
and PixHawk. Figure 3.11 Communication Module
Features:

 Utilizes the powerful and open source telemetry protocol SiK

 Long range >40km depending on antennas and GCS setup

 2 x RP-SMA RF connectors, diversity switched.

 1 Watt (+30dBm) transmits power.
 22

 Transmit low pass filter.

 > 20dB Low noise amplifier.

 RX SAW filters.

 Passive front end band pass filter.

 Open source firmware / tools, field upgradeable, easy to configure.

 Small, lightweight.

Specifications:
 Frequency Range: 902 – 928 MHz (USA) / 915 – 928 MHz (Australia)

 Output Power: 1W (+30dBm), controllable in 1dB steps ( +/- 1dB @ <20dBm, +/- 0.5dB
>=20dBm typical )
 Air Data transfer rates: 4, 8, 16, 19, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128, 192 and 250 kbit/sec ( User
selectable, 64k default )

 UART data transfer rates: 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200 baud ( User
selectable, 57600 default )
 Receive Sensitivity: >121 dBm at low data rates, high data rates (TBA)

 Size: 30 mm (wide) x 57 mm (long) x 12.8 mm (thick) – Including RF Shield, Heatsink and

connector extremities
 Mounting: 3 x M2.5 screws, 3 x header pin solder points

 Power Supply: +5 V nominal, (+3.5 V min, +5.5 V max), ~800 mA peak at maximum power
 Temp. Range: -40 to +85 degree C

3.2.7 Primary Flight Computer

PixHawk 2.4.8 Flight Controller PX4 32 Bit Autopilot is used as

the primary flight controller for the rocket. The primary flight
controller needs to evaluate multiple inputs and control the
rocket parameters accordingly. Hence, a flight controller with
high processing power, redundant power input and failover,
flight data recorder and other important functions are necessary.
All this is obtained by the PixHawk 2.4.8 Flight Controller.

Features:

 The advanced 32-bit ARM CortexM4 high-performance

processors; can run NuttX RTOS real-time operating system. Figure 3.12 PixHawk Flight
Controller
 23

 14 PWM / servo output.

 Bus interface (UART, I2C, SPI, CAN etc.).
 The integrated backup power and backup controller fails; the primary controller fails over
to the backup control is safe.
 Provide automatic and manual modes.
 Provide redundant power input and failover.
 Multicolor LED lights.
 Provide a multi-tone buzzer Interface.
 Micro SD card to record flight data.

Specifications:
o Processor:

 32bit STM32F427 Cortex M4 core with FPU.

 32-bit STM32F103 failsafe co-processor.
 168 MHz.
 128 KB RAM.
 2 MB Flash.

o Sensors:

 ST Micro L3GD20H 16 bit gyroscope.

 ST Micro X4HBA 303H 14-bit accelerometer/magnetometer.
 Invensense MPU 6000 3-axis accelerometer/gyroscope.
 MEAS MS5607 barometer.

o Interfaces:

 5x UART (serial ports), one high-power capable, 2x with HW flow control.

 2x CAN (one with an internal 3.3V transceiver, one on expansion connector).
 Spektrum DSM / DSM2 / DSM-X® Satellite compatible input.
 Futaba S.BUS® compatible input and output.
 PPM sum signal input.
 RSSI (PWM or voltage) input.
 I2C.
 SPI.
 3.3 & 6.6V ADC inputs.
 Internal micro USB port and external micro USB port extension.
 24

1. Spektrum DSM receiver

2. Telemetry (radio telemetry)
3. Telemetry (on-screen)
4. USB
5. SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) bus
6. Power Module
7. Safety Switch Button
8. Buzzer
9. Serial Port
10. GPS Module
11. CAN (Controller area Network) bus
12. I2C Splitter or Compass Module
13. Analog to Digital Converter 6.6V
14. Analog to Digital Converter 3.3V
15. LED Indicator
Figure 3.13
PixHawk Components

3.2.8 Power Module

PixHawk Power Module V6.0 is used to power the flight

controller and servo outputs. It can handle a maximum input
voltage of 28V and input current of 90A. The PixHawk Power
Module is a simple way of providing your APM 2.5 with clean
power from a Lipo battery as well as current consumption and
battery voltage measurements, all through a 6-pos cable. The
on-board switching regulator outputs 5.3V and a maximum of
2.25A from 2S-6S Lipo battery.

Figure 3.14
Power Module

3.3 Attitude Control Thrust Vectoring System (ACTVS)

3.3.1 Motor
In order to control the attitude of the rocket, provide
trajectory corrections and preventing the rocket from
tipping over, four brushless motors are attached at the
nose of the rocket. The motors used are Emax Eco 2306
2400KV brushless motor. EMAX's ECO series focuses
on quality, affordable motors that are lightweight but
still remain durable. They are lightweight due to their
new bell design and still very durable due to the new
larger 9mm bearing. 
This 2306 sized motor features a strengthened steel
hollow shaft, multi-strand windings for performance,
shaft screw, and larger 9x4mm bearings. Figure 3.15
Emax Eco Motor
 25

Features
 EZO bearing 9mm ODx4mm ID
 Steel shaft
 Dual anodizing
 16x16mm hole pattern
 Multi-strand copper winding
 115mm 20 AWG silicone wire

Specifications
 Framework: 12N14P
 Length: 30.2mm
 Diameter: 27.7mm
 No. of cells: 3-4s 2300-2700kv range
 Propeller: 5" - 6"
 Light Weight: 28.3g (W/O Silicone Wire)
 Prop adapter: M5
 Bearing Shaft: 4mm
 Shaft Thread: CW (Clock Wise)

Table 2: Secondary Motor Characteristics Datasheet:

Voltage Propeller Throttle Current (A) Thrust Power Efficiency Speed

(V) size (%) (g)
(W) (g/W) (RPM)
16.2V HQ V1S IDLE 0.48 36 8 4.7 5470
5x4x3 25% 1.79 139 29 4.8 10346
50% 6.54 416 105 4.0 17438
75% 15.20 783 242 3.2 24082
100% 27.76 1187 435 2.7 29656
16.2V DAL IDLE 0.79 41 13 3.2 5446
Cyclone 25% 2.29 158 37 4.3 10223
5x4.5x3 50% 7.75 456 124 3.7 16969
75% 17.97 853 285 3.0 23058
100% 33.32 1283 520 2.5 28030

Graphs:
1400 30
1200 35000 500
25 Figur
1000 30000
20 400
800 25000
Thrust 15
600 20000 300 Current
RPM
400 10 Power
15000
200
200 5
10000
0 100
0 25 50 75 100 5000 0
0 25 50 75 100
Throttle (%) 0 Throttle
0
0 25 50 (%)75
0 100
25 50 75 100
Figure 3.16 Thrust v/s F
Throttle
 26

3.3.2 Secondary Flight Controller and Electronic

Speed Controller

The secondary flight controller is used for attitude control and

trajectory corrections of the rocket. The flight controller is
integrated with the electronic speed controller. In order to reduce
weight, a four in one electronic speed controller is used. The
flight controller and electronic speed controller stack used is
Flycolor S-Tower 40A BLHeli_S ESC + F4 Flight Controller.

Features: Figure 3.20 FC – ESC Stack

 4 ESC on 1 board, stack up with F4 Flight Controller

 Built-in 3.3V/5V/12V BEC
 Built-in OSD module on the FC, you'll see main battery voltage and battery current on
screen
 Built-in Micro SD Card slot which supports max.32G TF-card, you can record and save
black box data
 BLHeli_S firmware on ESC - the next generation coding for superior performance on racing
drones
 ESC support OneShot 125, OneShot42, MultiShot, signal auto-detection during boot-up
 ESC support DShot150, DShot300 and DShot600, because they are digital signal which is
anti-interference and does not require throttle range calibration

FC Specifications:

 Target : OMNIBUSF4SD
 BEC : 3.3V/5V/12V
 Built-in OSD, user can adjust OSD parameters via Betaflight configurator
 Support PPM / PWM / SBUS
 Port : USB / Boot / PWM / PPM / SBUS / 12V Camera / 12V VTX / LED / Buzzer / ISP

ESC Specifications:

 Con. Current : 40A

 Burst Current : 50A
 Li-Po Cells : 2~4S
 Firmware : BLHeli_S
 Dimension : 41.5 x 36 x 18mm
 Mounting hole : 30.5 x 30.5mm
 Suitable for : 170-450 class multi-rotors
 Whole tower weight : 21.5 g

3.3.3 Propeller

The propeller will be mounted on the motor to produce thrust for controlling the attitude of
the rocket. The propeller has high pitch characteristic so that it can produce high thrust with
high RPM. Propeller used is DalProp T5040 V2 in the nose of the rocket. DalProp T5040 V2
tri-Blades CW CCW Propeller is generally used for Micro Quadcopters; each propeller has
excellent balance, low vibration. It is marked unbroken, high quality material, it is flexible
 27

and durable, and can survive from crashes.

Specifications:
Length: 5 inch
Pitch: 4 inch
Material: PC (Poly Carbonate)
Weight: 5.3g
Hub ID Diameter: 5.02mm
Hub Thickness: 7.95mm
Adapter Rings: no
Color: Yellow Figure 3.21 5 inch Propeller

3.3.4 Secondary Power Systems

The 4S 14.8V 75c 1300mAh Lipo battery pack is a great choice for many small UAVs which
require high discharge rates. This battery packs a ton of power in a compact form factor,
giving high flight time and power required on the rocket. Tattu batteries provide high quality,
reliable power for your UAVs.

Specifications:
 Capacity: 1300mAh
 Voltage: 14.8V
 Max Continuous Discharge: 75C
 Max Burst Discharge: 150C
 Weight: 154g
 Dimensions: 75*35*30 mm
 Balance Plug: JST-XH
 Discharge Plug: XT-60
 Charge Rate: 1-3C Recommended, 5C Max 
Figure 3.22 4S Secondary
Features: Battery
 Stable automatic stacking technology makes the single cell capacity able to reach
22000mAh.
 The most strict single cell capacity, voltage, resistance, discharge curve matching process.
 Superior Japan and Korea Lithium Polymer raw materials.
 Almost 200Wh/kg energy density.
 At least 150 times cycle life.

3.4 Ground Control Station

A ground control station (GCS) is a land- or sea-based control center that provides the
facilities for human control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or "drones").  It may also
refer to a system for controlling rockets within or above the atmosphere, but this is discussed
elsewhere. GCS hardware refers to the complete set of ground-based hardware systems used
to control the UAV. This typically includes the Human-Machine Interface, computer,
telemetry, video capture card and aerials for the control, video and data links to the UAV.
Smaller UAVs can be operated with a traditional "twin-stick" style transmitter, as used for
 28

radio controlled model aircraft. Extending this setup with a laptop or tablet computer, data
and video telemetry, and aerials, creates what is effectively a Ground Control Station.

Figure 3.23 Component Flow

A number of suppliers offer a combined system Chart
that consists of what looks like a modified
transmitter combined with what is usually a touch screen. An internal computer running the
GCS software sits behind the screen, along with the video and data links.
Larger GCS units are also available that typically fit inside flight cases. As with the smaller
units, they feature an internal computer running the GCS software, along with video and data
links. Large single or dual screens are also fitted that can be high-brightness or treated with
an anti-glare coating to increase visibility in bright sunlight. They can either be placed on the
ground, on a portable table, or feature integrated folding legs.
Some portable GCS units are in the HOTAS (Hands on Throttle and Stick) layout. This
layout includes a 3-Axis Joystick to control yaw, pitch and roll of the UAV. A slide or t-bar
fader can increase or decrease the airspeed of the UAV.

3.5 Mission Planner Software

3.5.1 Overview
Mission Planner is a full-featured ground station application for the ArduPilot open source
 29

autopilot project. This page contains information on the background of Mission Planner and
the organization of this site.

Figure 3.24 User Interface Screen

3.5.2 Mission Planning

Setting the Home Position

For the rocket, the home position is set as the location where the vehicle was armed. This
means if you execute an RTL, it will return to the location where it was armed, so it is armed
at the location which is safe for landing or a rally point is used to setup an alternative return
point.

Types of Commands

There are several different types of commands that can be used within missions:

 Navigation commands are used to control the movement of the vehicle, including takeoff,
moving to and around waypoints, changing altitude, and landing.
 DO command is for auxiliary functions and do not affect the vehicle’s position (for
example, setting the camera trigger distance, or setting a servo value).
 Condition commands are used to delay DO commands until some condition is met, for
example the UAV reaches a certain altitude or distance from the waypoint.

Rally Points

Ordinarily when a plane or copter enters Return to Launch (RTL) mode (typically triggered

by an autopilot failsafe), the default behavior is to return to the Home point, but there are
often cases when that can be undesirable. For example it may be an area full of people or
 30

property and a system running in RTL mode may very likely be in a state that merits extreme
caution! It is also possible that the flight plan is large enough that should the aircraft enter
RTL mode it is undesirable to traverse all the way back to the point of takeoff. Hence,
Mission Planner supports rally points. Should the rocket enter RTL and Rally Points have
been defined then it will proceed to the closest Rally Point, rather than proceeding to the
Home position. Rocket will then loiter at that location, and then perform an automated
landing there.

Mission Rewind on Resume

In certain applications or operating

areas it can be common to interrupt a
mission, for the purposes of
deconfliction, by changing to another
mode and maneuvering the vehicle
away from the planned mission path.
When ready to resume the mission, the
normal behavior of the vehicle is to
fly/drive directly to the last ‘active’
waypoint that was loaded in the
mission.

As it can be seen, this leaves a

significant portion of the planned
mission that is either covered with
incorrect track and heading or is not
covered at all. This becomes an issue
for data gathering missions such as
surveys, resulting in legs of the mission
needing to be repeated.
Figure 3.25 Mission Rewind Example - 1

The rewind-on-resume feature remedies this

behavior. A rewind distance is defined by
the operator. When the mission is resumed
the vehicle will return to the mission track
at the desired distance behind the point that
the mission was interrupted. This gives the
vehicle adequate time to achieve the desired
track and heading before it achieves the
position in which it was originally
interrupted.

Figure 3.26 Mission Rewind Example - 2

 31

Limitations
1) Short mission legs: If the mission has closely spaced waypoints and the requested rewind
distance is greater than the distance covered by the last six waypoints that have been passed,
then the vehicle will resume on the ‘oldest’ waypoint stored.

2) Spline waypoints: This feature will work with spline waypoints. However, the accuracy
of the resume distance will be diminished as the distance calculation is based on a straight
line between navigation command locations.

3) Non-waypoint navigation commands: This feature works with non-waypoint navigations

commands, for example LOITER_TURNS. However, the distance calculation does not
account for the distance of the vehicle track in those commands. Using the previous example,
the distance calculation does not account for the distance flown in the loiter mode.
 32

The GCS Flight Data Screen

Figure 3.27 GCS Data Screen

1. Air speed ( Ground speed if no airspeed sensor is fitted )

2. Cross track error and turn rate (T)
3. Heading direction
4. Bank angle
5. Telemetry connection link quality (averaged percentage of good packets)
6. GPS time
7. Altitude ( blue bar is rate of climb )
8. Air speed
9. Ground speed
10. Battery status
11. Artificial Horizon
12. Aircraft Attitude
13. GPS Status
14. Current Waypoint Number > Distance to Waypoint
15. Current Flight Mode

Compass Calibration

Vehicle is held in the air and rotated it so that each side (front, back, left, right, top and
bottom) points down towards the earth for a few seconds in turn. Consider a full 360-degree
turn with each turn pointing a different direction of the vehicle to the ground. It will result in
6 full turns plus possibly some additional time and turns to confirm the calibration or retry if
it initially does not pass.
 33

Figure 3.28 Compass Calibration

Orientations

Figure 3.29 Live Compass Calibrations

Accelerometer Calibration

Mission Planner will prompt you to place the vehicle each calibration position. Press any key
to indicate that the autopilot is in position and then proceed to the next orientation.
The calibration positions are: level, on right side, left side, nose down, nose up and on its
back.

Figure 3.30 Accelerometer Calibration

Orientations
 34

Radio Control Calibration

RC transmitters allow the pilot to set the flight mode, control the
vehicle’s movement and orientation and also turn on/off auxiliary
functions (i.e. raising and lowering landing gear etc.). RC Calibration
involves capturing each RC input channel’s minimum, maximum and
“trim” values so that ArduPilot can correctly interpret the input.
Figure 3.31 Transmitter

Figure 3.32 Radio Calibration

Mission Planner will show a summary of the calibration data. Normal values are around 1100
for minimum and 1900 for maximum.

Mode1 and Mode2 Transmitters

There are two main transmitter
configurations:

 Mode 1: left stick controls pitch and

yaw, the right stick will control
throttle and roll.

 Mode 2: left stick controls throttle

and yaw; the right stick will control
pitch and roll.

Figure 3.33 Transmitter Modes

35
 36

4. Design Approach and Details

4.1 Design Approach

In order to test out the strength of the model and designing the rocket CAD model,
Solidworks is used. Different parts have been designed on Solidworks such as Tail Base,
Motor Battery Base, Nose, Fuselage and many more.

Figure 4.1 Figure 4.2

Tail Base Nose Base

Figure 4.4
Figure 4.3
Tail Thrust Fins
Thrust Motor Base

Figure 4.6
Figure 4.5
TTVS Battery Base
ACTVS Battery Base
 37

The structural integral parts of the rocket will be manufactured by additive manufacturing –
3D printing with PLA+ material which has the tensile strength of 57.8MPa and 1.3GPa.
Apart from the 3D printed parts, materials such as balsa wood, carbon fiber rods, and carbon
fiber parts.

4.2 Materials & Methods

4.2.1 Additive Manufacturing Process

Introduction:

3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process of making three dimensional solid objects

from a digital file. The creation of a 3D printed object is
achieved using additive processes. In an additive process
an object is created by laying down successive layers of
material until the object is created. Each of these layers
can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of
the eventual object. 3D printing is the opposite of
subtractive manufacturing which is cutting out /
hollowing out a piece of metal or plastic with for instance
a milling machine. 3D printing enables you to produce
complex shapes using less material than traditional
manufacturing methods. Figure 4.7 3D Printer

Process:

Fused filament fabrication (FFF), also known under the trademarked term fused deposition
modeling (FDM), derives from automatic polymeric foil hot air welding system, hot-melt
gluing and automatic gasket deposition. In fused deposition modeling, the model or part is
produced by extruding small beads or streams of material which harden immediately to form
layers. A filament of thermoplastic or other low melting point material or mixture is fed into
an extrusion nozzle head (3D printer extruder), where the filament is heated to its melting
temperature and extruded onto a build table. More recently, fused pellet deposition (or fused
particle deposition) has been developed, where particles or pellets of plastic replace the need
to use filament. The nozzle head heats the material and turns the flow on and off.
Typically stepper motors or servo motors are employed to move the extrusion head and adjust
the flow. The printer usually has 3 axes of motion. A computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
software package is used to generate the G-Code that is sent to a microcontroller which
controls the motors. Plastic is the most common material for such printing. Various polymers
may be used, including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), polylactic
acid (PLA), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), PC/ABS, polyphenylsulfone (PPSU)
and high impact polystyrene (HIPS). In general, the polymer is in the form of a filament
fabricated from virgin resins. There are multiple projects in the open-sourced community
aimed at processing post-consumer plastic waste into filament. These involve machines used
to shred and extrude the plastic material into filament such as recyclebots. Additionally,
fluoropolymers such as PTFE tubing are used in the process due to the material's ability to
withstand high temperatures. This ability is especially useful in transferring filaments.

Material:
 38

Polylactic Acid (PLA) ranks as one of the most popular materials for 3D printing, particularly
FDM. Its ease of use and minimal warping issues make PLA filaments the perfect starting
point for 3D printing. PLA is also one of the most environmentally-friendly 3D printing
materials and, unlike ABS, is biodegradable. Among other PLA advantages are also its low
cost and a wide assortment of colors and blends. However, the brittleness of the material
makes PLA more suitable for non-functional prototyping, decorative and low-stress
applications.

PLA is a common thermoplastic polymer derived from natural sources such as corn starch or

sugar cane — in contrast to many other thermoplastics which are produced from non-
renewable sources such as petroleum. From automotiveFigure 4.8 3D
to food Printed Motor
packaging, Mount
a range of
industries are using PLA to produce 3D printed products. 

Advantages of PLA include: 

 Low printing temperature: PLA has a relatively low
printing temperature compared to other thermoplastics
(e.g. for PLA an ideal printing temperature starts from
around 180°C, while ABS this is around 250°C). This
means that PLA is less likely to warp and clog the nozzle
during the printing process. Also, compared to ABS and
other thermoplastics with higher melting temperatures,
PLA typically produces better surface details and sharper
features. 
 Ease of use: PLA is one of the easiest material filaments to
3D print with. The material easily adheres to a variety of
surfaces and doesn’t require a heated print bed which,
again, adds to its ease of use. Unlike ABS, PLA also does
not emit smelly fumes when printed.  Figure 4.9 3D Printing PLA Spool

 Variety of color and blending options: PLA is easily pigmented and comes in a diverse range
of colors and blends. The material can also be mixed with wood, carbon and even metal,
whilst pigments can also be added t to get luminescent or glittery filaments. This makes the
choice of PLA blends virtually endless. 
 Easy post-processing: PLA prints can be easily sanded, polished and painted, allowing for an
improved surface finish with relatively little effort. You can also drill, mill and glue PLA
parts — but be careful not to melt the part. To prevent melting your PLA part, simply keep
the process slow and the tools cold (you can achieve this with water, WD-40 or proper
cutting fluid). 
 Biodegradable: PLA is an eco-friendly material, as it is biodegradable, non-toxic and also
requires less energy to 3D print and emits fewer greenhouse gases than petroleum-based
materials. Compared to petroleum-based thermoplastics, which take thousands of years to
break down, PLA parts can typically (naturally) break down within a few years, or even
months.

Limitations of 3D printing with PLA:

 PLA has low heat resistance, and therefore cannot be used for high temperature applications.
In high temperatures, PLA can rapidly deform, especially if under stress. 
 39

 While PLA containers are food safe when not 3D printed, PLA is not food safe when 3D
printed. This is because the 3D printing process creates tiny gaps and pores between the
layers of your print. These gaps tend to keep moisture and bits of food, leading to a build-up
of bacteria and mold. 
 When heated, PLA filament is prone to oozing, meaning that your printer’s extruder can leak
out a lot of plastic when moving between segments of a print. This creates strings between
the separate areas of your part, which can result in a flawed print. A cooling fan is therefore
required to prevent this issue. 

4.2.2 Manufacturing of Rocket

One of the major factors to consider while manufacturing of an

aerial flying system is weight of the system. There are four major
factors to consider – aerodynamic control, stability, rigidity and
weight. All these factors must be balanced together to optimize
the characteristics of the rocket while flying. Since the scale of
rocket is small, Depron foam and balsa wood are used to
manufacture the rocket. Ribs made of Depron foam of 1.5” are
placed at regular intervals in order to increase the rigidity. The
foam ribs also serve as platforms for mounting electronics and
payload. All the foam ribs are held together with balsa wood
sticks which keep the rocket upright.
The main thrust motors are mounted on a mount made of PLA Figure 4.10
with the help of additive manufacturing. The mount is placed at a
position where highest moment can be produced by thrust Rocket Rear End
vectoring at the tail. The main thrust motors use propeller size of
13”, hence the rocket diameter of 15” is kept in order to avoid any intrusion. A carbon fiber
rod is placed through the motor mount. Two motors are
placed co-axially in order to increase the thrust of the
rocket. Carbon Fiber propellers are used to channel the
thrust vertically down.
The Nose Thrust Vectoring System is comprised of four tilt
motor mounts made by additive manufacturing which
provides two thrust components – vertically downward and
horizontally inward. This allows it to control the attitude of
Figure 4.11
rocket as well as maintain stability. The four motors use 5”
inch plastic propellers in order to produce thrust. Nose Thrust Vectoring System

4.3 Codes and Standards

 40

The basic geometry configuration of

SSTO vehicle for the present shape
trade-off study is shown in Fig. 4.13.
The body consists of a blunted nose of
radius Rm a fore cone of half-apex
angle θF, a cylindrical section, and an aft
cone of aft angle θR. From the
calculations by the Newtonian theory in
the hypersonic region, the coefficients
of lift and drag (CL and CD) were
evaluated between 0 and 180 degrees of
angle of attack with varying the vehicle
geometry. As a result of the trade-off

Figure 4.12 L/D (max) v/s Lb/Rb

studies, the following characteristics from the point

view of the aerodynamics were obtained. The shape
effects on lift to drag ratio L/D is summarized in
Table 1. First, if high L/D is desired from the mission
object, the nose entry vehicle must be slender, that is,
high fineness ratio Lb/Rb and small conic angles are
needed, where Lb and Rb are total length and base
radius of the vehicle body, respectively. On the other
hand, the lower fineness ratio is preferred to achieve
higher L/D for the base entry vehicle. A cylindrical
section is not desirable from the aerodynamic point
of view. Figure 4.13 shows the relation between the
Figure 4.13 fineness ratio and maximum L/D for fore angle of 20
Nose Dimensional Ratio deg. The nose entry vehicle, in general, offers higher
achievable L/D than base entry ones. In the nose
entry, increasing fineness ratio usually leads to increase in the ballistic coefficient B. This
causes larger peak heating and deceleration rate. The shorter reentry time of high B, however,
allows for lower total heat loading, which leads to reduction of the structural mass of the
vehicle. In the base entry, on the other hand, the low fineness ratio, which is preferred to

Figure 4.14 L/D v/s Angle of Attack Figure 4.15 Cm v/s Angle of Attack
 41

achieve higher L/D, causes to increase a drag loss during ascent flight, that is, worse the
launch characteristic performance. Moreover, the fineness ratio relates to weight efficiency
Therefore, the fineness ratio of vehicle and the ballistic factor must be carefully chosen in
accordance with the mission requirements. Figure 4.13 shows one of the desirable shapes
obtained from the trade-off studies to achieve high L/D for nose and base entries. The
fineness ratios for the nose and base entry vehicles are 3.725 and 1.931, respectively. These
L/D characteristics with respect to angle of attack between 0 and 180 degrees are shown in
Fig 4.14.
 42

5. Schedule and Milestones

5.1 Schedule

Step 1: Establish the literature gap through research on previous papers.

Step 2: Design of an aerodynamic rocket capable of flight

Step 3: Manufacturing of a strong and sturdy rocket structure to sustain high speed
flights
Step 4: Installation of Tail Thrust Vectoring System and Nose Thrust Vectoring
System, with Motors and Electronic Speed Controllers
Step 5: Installation of the Central and Attitude Control Flight Controller
Step 6: Programming of algorithms onto the flight controllers with specific settings
Step 7: Installation of batteries and establishment of telemetry communication.
Step 8: Testing of the rocket and noting the results.
Step 9: Observation of results and changes in settings in order to improve them.

5.2 Milestones

Table 3: Milestones
No. Milestone Name
1 Research on Literature
2 Design of rocket
3 Manufacturing of Rocket Ribs
4 Additive Manufacturing
5 Rocket Assembly
Milestone Description Timeline
Week no.
Establishment of the literature gap 1-4
through research on previous papers
Solidworks 2019 to be used for the 5-6
design of rocket. Estimation of
Centre of Gravity and Centre of
Pressure to be done by the CAD
model.
Hot Wire Cutting Techniques to be 7-8
used for manufacturing Rocket Ribs
for increasing the overall strength
and rigidity of the rocket.
Primary Motor Mount is to 3D 9-10
printed with PLA material for high
strength. Motor mount is to be
integrated with carbon fibre rod and
plates on which two motors are
mounted co-axially. The motor
mounts for Nose Thrust Vectoring
System are 3D printed to maintain
aerodynamic structure and rigidity.
Epoxy and Fibreglass cloth are used 11-12
to reinforce the Depron sheets and
balsa wood sticks. The rocket fins are
integrated with the balsa wood sticks
to ensure their endurance in case of
rough landings. Adequate ducts are
made for mounting electronics. The
battery bay is secured and reinforced
 43

to remove any vibrations caused

during flight and increase strength.
6 Installation of Vectoring The thrust vectoring systems are 13
Systems situated at the nose and tail of the
rocket. Tail thrust vectoring system
is used for controlling trajectory
control and nose thrust vectoring
system is used for attitude control.
The nose thrust vectoring system has
four motors mounted on 3D printed
mounts along two axes at an angle of
61 degrees. The flaps are mounted on
hinges to direct the airflow of
primary thrust motors that are
controlled by servo motors.
7 Installation of Flight Computers There are two flight computers 14
mounted on the rocket controlling the
nose and tail thrust vectoring
systems. The autopilot system is
PixHawk that majorly controls the
tail thrust vectoring system. The nose
thrust vectoring system controls the
four motors and takes care of attitude
control and prevents rocket from
tilting.
8 Installation of Electronic Multiple sensors and modules are to 15
Systems be mounted with the primary flight
computer PixHawk such as, safety
switch, GPS module, sensory units,
power module, Compass module,
and Communication Modules.
9 Establishment of The communication of data from 16
Communication Systems Rocket to Ground Control Station
(GCS) is performed by serial
communication at frequency of
915MHz at a baud rate of 57500. The
telemetry communication module
can transmit to the GCS up to a range
of 30km. The GCS software to be
used is Mission Planner and
Betaflight for various features like
Flight Plan, monitoring rocket
characteristics, manual control and
multiple more. A transmitter is used
as a manual backup control of the
rocket that operates at 2.4GHz.
10 Power Systems Since the rocket operates on 16
electrical thrust propulsion, a
sustainable, powerful, rechargeable,
long life battery is to be used. A
Lithium Polymer battery is to be
used for powering the rocket. An
 44

8000mAh 6S Lipo battery is to be

used for powering tail thrust
vectoring system and a 1300mAh 4S
battery for nose thrust vectoring
system.
11 Integration Testing Since, there are multiple dependent 17
systems mounted on the rocket, it is
imperative for them to be tested
individually. Every system needs to
be tested individually and then tested
with other components for perfect
working conditions.
12 Simulation Test Mission Planner is used to test the 17
flight characteristics of the rocket in
a simulated environment to prevent
any major system failure.
13 Rocket Indoor Testings The rocket is to be suspended via 17
cables and placed a few feet above
the ground. All the systems are
engaged and tested. The ability of the
rocket to maneuver is tested fully.
The rocket is subjected to various
forces on its body to test the ability
of the rocket to stay on its trajectory.
CG and CP of the rocket are marked
and various adjustments are to be
carried out for shifting the positions
of CG and CP.
14 Troubleshooting Various problems caused during 18
Milestone 13 are noted carefully and
various adjustments are carried out to
rectify the errors. After the
rectification of the errors, Milestone
13 is carried out again. If all the
systems are working flawlessly,
Milestone 15 is to be carried forward.
15 Rocket Outdoor Testing The system should be thoroughly 18
tested by running all the test cases
written for the system (from
Milestone 6). Rocket is tested for a
smaller altitude and the telemetry
data is reviewed for any failures and
then gradually the altitude is
increased.
16 Final Review Issues found during the previous 19
milestone are fixed and the system is
ready for the final review.
 45

6. Project Demonstrations

6.1 Flight Plan:

Figure 4.16 Flight Plan:

Location:
Army Ground, Vellore,
Tamil Nadu, India.

6.2 Waypoint Data Table:

Table 4: Waypoint Data Table

Sr. Command Delay Latitude Longitude Altitude Grad% Angle Distance

No.

1 TAKEOFF 0 12.9753799 79.1550431 5 0 0 0

2 WAYPOINT 0 12.9761849 79.1552657 10 47.3 25.3 23.4

3 WAYPOINT 0 12.9759758 79.1552979 20 42.5 23.0 25.5

4 WAYPOINT 0 12.9757353 79.1553408 10 -36.8 -20.2 28.9

5 LAND 0 12.9754583 79.1553837 5 -16.1 -9.1 31.5

Table 5: Home Location

Home Location
Latitude Longitude Altitude

12.976373065638 79.155238866806 100 feet

 46

6.3 Telemetry Data:

The rocket has a flight computer that records and measures different characteristics like
altitude, attitude, vibrations, battery consumed etc. This data is sent via serial communication
through a communication module RFD900+. This module transmits the data at 915MHz at a
baud rate of 57500. The module has a range of 30kms so all the data is transmitted to the
Ground Control System (GCS).

6.4 Telemetry Data Graphs:

Figure 4.17 Figure 4.18

Altitude v/s Time Pitch Attitude v/s Time

Figure 4.20
e Yaw Attitude v/s Time

Figure 4.21 Figure 4.22

Current consumed v/s Time Vibration (3 axes) v/s Time
 47

Figure 4.25 Groundspeed v/s Time Figure 4.26 Airspeed consumed v/s Time
 48

7. Cost Analysis

Table 6: Cost Analysis

Sr. No. Part Name Cost (Rs.)

1 Primary Motors Emax 3515 650KV Motor 7000

2 Primary ESC Ready to Sky 40A 2S-6S ESC 2800

3 Secondary Emax Eco 2306 2400KV Motor 4800

Motors

4 Primary Flight PixHawk 2.4.8 Flight Controller 12600

Computer

5 Secondary FC Flycolor S-Tower 40A BLHeli_S ESC + 6500

ESC Stack F4 Flight Controller.

6 Primary Battery Tattu 8000mAh 15C 6S Lipo Battery 13500

7 Secondary Tattu 1300mAh 75C 4S Lipo Battery 2100

Battery

8 Communication RFD900+ Long Range Telemetry Module 23500

Module

9 Power Module PixHawk Power Module V6.0 2S – 6S 650

10 Building Depron Foam 5mm 1300

Material

11 3D Printing HATCHBOX PLA 3D Printer Filament, 950

Filament Dimensional Accuracy +/- 0.03 mm, 1 kg
Spool, 1.75 mm.

12 Reinforcement Araldite Standard Resin Epoxy Adhesive 550

Epoxy 450 grams

13 Two Stick FrSky Taranis QX7 Transmitter 12500

Transmitter

14 Manual FrSky Long Range L9R Receiver 4900

Receiver
 49

14 Carbon Fiber Emax 1340 CW, CCW Carbon Fiber 700

13 inch Propellers
Propeller

15 Plastic 5 inch DalProp T5040 V2 Yellow Propeller 190

Propeller

16 Servo Motors MG995 Metal Gear Servo 180 degree 1300

rotation

Total Rs. 95840

e
 50

8. Summary
The completion of project provided many insights in the field of Unmanned Aerial Systems.
The aerodynamic capabilities, technical aspects, autonomous flight control, communication
systems and ground control systems are some of the attributes of the project that were
developed during its development. The project achieved its goal, mainly of attaining a VTOL
Flight. The guidance control of the rocket was carried by onboard sensors and computing
systems. The Ground Control Station with the help of Mission Planner was used properly to
control all the aspects of the rocket and telemetry data was displayed and recorded at the
GCS. All the telemetry data will be wirelessly transmitted to a ground control station (GCS).
The guidance system can be manually controlled via GCS or it can be automated. The rocket
performed autonomous flights with the help of onboard computing systems according to a
pre-determined flight plan. The rocket is manufactured majorly with Depron foam, balsa
wood sticks and carbon fiber composites. Due to the VTOL approach of the rocket, it has the
capability of automatic Take-Off and Landing which has a very wide use of applications,
such as logistics delivery, aerial photography, inspections, STEM activities and many more.
 51

9. References
[1] Yoshifumi Inatani, Yoshihiro Naruo and Koich Yonemoto, 2001. Concept and
Preliminary Flight Testing of a Fully Reusable Rocket Vehicle. Journal of Spacecraft
and Rockets, Vol. 38, No. 1.

[2] A. Safaee, S. Z. Moussavi, M. S. Mehrabani and M. B. Menhaj, 2014. Construction and

Control of Monocopter using MEMS AHRS. 11th IEEE International Conference on
Control and Automation (ICCA), June 18-20.

[3] S. Nonaka, H. Ogawa and Y. Inatani, 2001. Aerodynamic Design Considerations in

Vertical Landing Rocket Vehicle. AIAA/NAL-NASDA-ISAS 10th International Space
Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference, 24-27 April.

[4] Manas Kumar Das, P. Muthu Kumar and A. Anitha, 2017. ORBOT – An efficient and
Intelligent Mono Copter. IEEE International Conference on Circuits and Systems
(ICCS).

[5] Inatani, Y., Naruo, Y., and Yamada, T., “A Concept of Reusable Sounding Rocket with
Enhanced Maneuverability and Operability,” Proceedings of the 20th International
Symposium on Space Technology and Science, International Symposium on Space
Technology and Science, Tokyo, 1996, pp. 1165–1170.

[6] Cook, S. A., "X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle Structural Technologies," AIAA Paper 96-
4563, 1996.

[7] Gaubatz, W., Nowland, D., Charette, R., Leonard, B., Schweikle, D., Smiljanic, R.,
Dumbacher, D. and Sponable, L., C., J., "Summary Report on the Delta Clipper -
Experimental Flight Demonstration Programs," IAF-97-V.3.08,1997

[8] ArduPilot Mission Planner Documentation

[9] Emax Model USA, Eco Series 4S – 6S Motor Documentation

[10] Robokits, Gujarat, India. Component Description.