Retrograde recovery device- this is probably one of the most difficult projects involving water bottle rockets. This helps to increase altitude, obviously. Increase the volume of your water rocket- I'll actually discuss this in detail later on, but essentially one can splice bottles together to create larger pressure chambers. Barometric altimeter with data logger- using a cheap altimeter, you can create a time versus altitude graph, as well as measure air temperature (although this depends on the altimeter breakout board) Accelerometer-based parachute deployment- an accelerometer can be used to calculated velocity, acceleration, and may be used for parachute deployment Most of these I've used in my project, and I'll provide ideas on how to do then as well: These are all I'll discuss in depth, but here are a few for you to try out. Involves an Arduino and 7-segment display, as well as a few push buttons and LEDs. Pretty simple, I think we'll do it to help time the parachute deployment as well. I will take no responsibility for your misfortunes. Only do this if you are sure that your recovery mechanism works all the time and with no faults. Generally uses a pyrotechnic charge in model rockets but we will use a spring-loaded mechanism with a servo latch device. Involves deploying a small parachute to slow down the descent speed of a rocket. Our goal is to design the highest-flying rocket with additional features that makes it more interesting than a simple 2L bottle rocket- so what does that involve? The faster the air moves, the greater the volume of that air is (that interacts with the rocket) over a given time period. This type of trade off occurs here as well- we cannot increase thrust without increasing drag. a bicycle cannot have a gear chain ratio that is oriented both for speed and strength at the same time. There is this effect in theory and in the real world that prevents us from doing everything at maximum potential. Note that decreasing your rocket's weight to almost zero would decrease it's performance- there is an ideal mass to volume ratio that enables best performance. Mass- the lighter the rocket, the higher it goes. Stability- the rocket's Cp must be behind it's Cg- this will make the rocket stable and therefore increase maximum altitude.Ĥ. Thrust- the more power the rocket produces, the higher it will go. Drag- the more drag on a rocket, the lower it's apogee. Key points to remember during design and construction (there may be more):ġ. Here are a few basic terms I'll be using:Īpogee- highest point on the parabola described by the rocket's flight, or, in other words, the point at which the rocket is farthest from the ground,Įverything else is relatively self-explanatory. Now, this is rocket science, but that doesn't mean it's that difficult. I do present a project build, but I encourage you to alter the design and functionality as you see fit.įinally, if you like it, please vote for it in any contest it may be in! Thanks! I am trying to help you start thinking and designing water rockets on your own, using your own ideas. Please keep in mind: My goal here is not to show you how to build one project. If you're just looking for a step-by-step project, I've got that as well.īy the way, this is my first instructable, so if you feel that something's not done right, feel free to add a comment. If you want to design your own rocket, I'll help you plan and design. The best part is that most of the things required are either cheap or things you can find at home. Here, I'll show you the basics of building the next-level water rocket that can be the basis for many interesting projects. You've probably taped on some fins, a paper nosecone, and presto! You launch a "rocket" that is loads of fun- and watched it fall down from the sky. This project was built for an intro to engineering program called DiscoverE.You've all probably had a chance to do that classic high-school experiment: pop bottle rockets. Depending on the stopper seal, rockets can fly as high as 50 feet. For this reason, the kids should stand back when applying pressure to the bottle. The rocket launches when the pressure inside the bottle forces the stopper from the nozzle. Note that the rocket release is not controlled. Fins and nose cones were not added since this setup needs to be durable to cover multiple classes per year. The stations are pretty easy to build and relatively safe since the PVC reducer locks the rocket in the vertical position. Everyone is happy to get out of class and play with water.įive rocket stations should cover a typical class (divide the kids equally). However, the project has been given to high school students and they enjoy it as well. This project is geared towards middle school aged students. Water rockets are used in school/scouting/4-H presentations to help students understand the principles of aeronautics.
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