Custom Rocket Electronics Bay
E-bay Redesign
Larger high powered rockets use electronics bays to control when to deploy the multiple parachutes. Nearly every electronics bay (e-bay) is built the same way, a sled on two threaded rods inside a coupler tube. The avionics are armed by shorting the connection of a series of brass screws on the outside of the rocket; a common, ground, and positive. The design is very hard to work with due to accessibility of components, hassle of Installation, and frequent failures.
Level 2 E-bay Redesign
I wanted to come up with a way to make an easily accessible e-bay, that could also be turned on and off with ease. My solution was to create a triangular bay with two fixed panels, and one hinged door (not shown). This setup allows for surface mounting of circuit boards on the panels, and then the ability to run the wires through the middle. The center space also allows for mounting of larger hardware like the battery pack. The systems are turned on and off by two buttons that are mounted above the e-bay with external access. I sketched out the concept of the e-bay, translated them into a Solidworks assembly, and then laser cut the pieces.
Level 3 E-bay Redesign
For my level 3 rocket certification I built a new avionics bay designed for maximum flexibility, accessibility, and adaptability. The main body features two main mounting surfaces, each roughly 5 x10 inches, along with a mounting shelf for switches and camera modules. The space between the plates allows for wires to be routed seamlessly between the plates, or through the bay to the parachute blast caps on either end. The top plate on risers features a row of 8 switches that turn on the flight electronics, as well as completing the circuit between the pyrotechnics as a safety precaution to ensure that they will not go off before launch. The row of switches also features a latch that prevents the switches from flipping back during flight and shutting off the electronics. A hatch is cut out of the rocket body above the switch board that allows for easy access when arming before flight. The body tube hatch can be replaced with polycarbonate to be used as a window for camera modules.
The rocket itself was designed to withstand high stress during main parachute deployment as a drogue chute is not deployed at apogee. In order to withstand the deployment forces, two 5/16-18 threaded rods run the length of avionics bay and connect the two u-bolts together with threaded couplings and thread-lock. This design allows for the deployment forces to be directly transferred from one recovery harness through the steel rods into the other harness on the other side, resulting in a greatly reduced force on the overall bay. The avionics bay is secured to the main piece of body tube with four 6-32 screws in each end of blue tube coupler. The new design allows for large experimental payloads to be flight tested on a flight certified rocket.