Hey guys! Just wanted to make a quick blog post updating you on my progress on the thrust vector control gimbal I designed nearly seven months ago. I haven’t finished the design for the hardware and software just yet, but I’m much closer than I was before! I wanted to make this update post so you guys can see the progress I’ve made.
First things first: What exactly needs to be done for a thrust vector control setup?
Necessities
- The mechanical hardware (obviously). A working thrust vector control system starts with a good, well-designed mount. This is what has taken me the most time thus far, and was the most difficult part for me. I wrote a whole article on this!
- The electronics hardware. Depending on what mechanical hardware you choose, electronics need to be high-power and specialized in order to work properly and get the most out of the mount you’d already designed. I’m currently in the trenches when it comes to the design of the electronics hardware necessary for the thrust vector control mount to run properly. However, I’m basing the design off of my proven flight computer infrastructure, STARLIGHT.
- The software. This is possibly the most mathematical and theoretical part of the entire build. The software needs to integrate some sort of PID controller that can compensate for attitude changes in-flight. If the project wants to be taken even further with active attitude control, the PID controller also needs to be able to take angle, wind direction, and geolocation into consideration.
I’ll go over these necessities one by one:
Mechanical Hardware
For mechanic hardware, I designed my own thrust vector control mount. I won’t go into much detail here on it, you can read about it in my previous blog post.
Electronics Hardware
This is the part I’ve been somewhat avoiding making posts on. Unfortunately, due to the design of the mechanical hardware and the utilization of 8V servos, STARLIGHT will not be enough to control the mount. Because of this, I began work on a STARLIGHT V2 – very similar to the original STARLIGHT but with an adjustable voltage regulator and some other changes, as well. At some point in the near future I’ll release an article going into much more detail on STARLIGHT V2. For now, just know that it’s going to be similar to STARLIGHT but have the capability of controlling much higher-voltage devices.
The Software Behind it All
The software behind STARLIGHT V2 and the thrust vector control mount is still in its very, very early stages. Honestly, right now I’m still struggling with controlling the servos properly and converting servo movements to degrees accurately. Once that hurdle is cleared, the design of the PID filter will begin.
What’s next?
With summer right on the horizon, I’ll be putting a lot more time into projects like this one. I’ll also have a lot more money to spend on projects, as I’ll be working more hours. I’ve got big plans for this summer, and I’m excited to take all of you with me on this journey!
Until next time.
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