2023-2024 Team Hōkūlele Project
May-June 2024
This is the rocket design that the team has come up with. It has four sections: Nose, Forward, Sustainer, and Booster. The rocket will feature a payload in two locations being the forward section and the sustainer section, both payloads will feature cameras, one for live streaming to the ground station and the other to store record of the entire flight. Avionics will also be located in two parts of the rocket, the Forward and the Booster section; the avionics will be in charge of making sure the recovery components deploy at the correct times. Lastly the rocket will feature two motors, the N3300R and the M2400T both from Aerotech.
FAR Competition
The FAR 51025, is a rocket launch contest held by the Friends of Amateur Rocketry whose goal is to educate the public about STEM using amateur rocketry. The competition is held at the FAR launch facility located between the Rand and El Paso mountains in California and is open to college, university, and amateur rocket teams. Teams will launch solid, liquid, and hybrid motor rockets containing various payloads with target altitudes of 5,000, 10,000, and 25,000 feet.
2023-2024 Goals
Design and Build a Rocket that reaches an altitude of 25,000 ft.
Design and build a payload that will record footage of descent on ejection
Record and obtain external footage of the flight which shows the entirety of the rocket flight
Achieve 1,000 points for two-stage rocket in the FAR competition
Design and implement a safe and successful recovery system
Design a ground station which receives live data from the rocket
Graduate from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Spring 2024
Win the 2024 FAR 51025 Competition
System Architecture
Team Hōkūlele’s subsystems will coordinate in both the design and fabrication of the rocket to achieve success within the project. The team will also have external relationships outside the team which will complement the team in project completion. Dr. Trevor Sorensen will oversee the project, acting as both a guide and a customer for the project. He will define essential requirements and constraints for the team that will be addressed throughout the project duration, as well as overview reports and deliverables that mark project milestones. In addition, both Dr. Trevor Sorensen and Dr. Jacob Hudson will provide guidance throughout the project to ensure requirements are met and verified. This includes assistance in the defining of the rocket at a system level and its subsystems, alongside the design and fabrication of the components of the rocket. For funding, Team Hōkūlele will be in contact with multiple external organizations. This includes the University of Hawaii’s College of Engineering (COE) department, which will provide initial funding alongside lab equipment and machine access to complement the fabrication of rocket parts, as well as request for grants and sponsorships from other external organizations. Given proper fulfillment of requirements, the rocket itself will be delivered to FAR, which will be used in the 2024 FAR competition.
Work Breakdown Structure
This the work breakdown structure for the team, it features each subsystem along with all the responsibilities of them. Administration is focused around budget, scheduling, and communication between the subsystems. Structure is focused on the structure of the rocket as well as the fins and making sure it is structurally strong enough to survive the conditions of the flight. The propulsions subsystem is in charge of the motors and everything related to the motors, being the estimated reach, testing, assembly, and its integration into the rocket body. The recovery subsystem is in charge of the avionics of the rocket and the recovery components. Recovery is also in charge of the ground station and the communications between the ground and the rocket throughout the flight. The last subsystem is payload, which is responsible for creating the system that can achieve the competition challenges to help the team receive points. The payload team is in charge of creating the payload housing, and configuring the components within that and making sure all the electronics work and can work under the conditions of the flight.
Project Schedule
Structure
Design and fabricate a rocket frame that provides overall mechanical integrity to the system
The structure should be able to withstand forces experienced during the entire flight sequence and support all interior components of the rocket
Update previous year’s fin design in a way that improves the rocket's stability and targets an apogee of 25,000 feet
Propulsion & Recovery
Determine the motors utilized to propel the rocket to a target altitude of 25,000 feet
Integrate both motors to each other ensure successful separation and ignition
Investigate motor performance through a static motor test
Ensure that the onboard avionics deploy at the optimum time so that the rocket reaches its maximum apogee
Integrate an improved recovery system utilizing a combination of methods that will reduce the shock experienced by the rocket when the parachute opens and prevent damage to the rocket’s internal components
Payload
Fabricate and assemble a payload system
Ensure the payload system is durable enough to withstand the forces felt throughout the flight
Live video feed transmitted to the ground station capturing the entire flight
Fabricate and assemble a 360° camera array payload capable of streaming a live video during the flight
Finance
Ensure that the project is funded
Ensure that the team is able to secure necessary resources within a timely manner and cost
Current Balance Available: $6,400
Projected Expenses: $28,400
