Devlog 1 - Welcome To FlightCore

Overview

What’s up, guys! If you have been following my other project, FlightScope, the name of this project will ring a bell. This is the hardware extension for FlightScope, so I can get real data and actually test the app.

What am I actually building?

FlightCore has 2 main parts:

• The Flight Computer, which is what is going to collect the flight data and will be housed inside number 2….
• A Rocket! I’ll be building a (most likely) low-power rocket that will bring FlightCore up into the sky.

With all that out of the way, I’ll tell you what I’ve got done in this first chunk of time.

What’s New

• Began modeling the electronics sled and other rocket parts with Onshape
• Initialized FlightCores codebase with sensor initialization. P.S. - The GitHub is public! I’ll be storing everything about this project right here.

Challenges

This project is full of challenges! To name a few:

• This is my first hardware project, and putting all the electronics I plan to use together is going to be a big one in itself.
• I haven’t ever used CAD software before (I apologize if my CAD is horrendous. I’m trying, I promise), so modeling everything in Onshape is fun!
• I’m programming the flight computer with new libraries that are brand new to me, not to mention using C++, which is also something I haven’t used yet.

I’m basically jumping off a helicopter into an ocean without knowing how to swim, but the great part about it is I sure will learn a lot and fast!

Next Steps

• Program up the other sensors in the flight computer
• Figure out how I’m actually going to log the data that these sensors are giving me
• Continue modeling the rocket and electronics sled in CAD

And that’s a wrap for devlog 1! As I’ve said, this project really does have me learning along the way. Any advice would be much appreciated! With that said, I’ll see you all in the next one.

See progress on the electronics sled:

Indexer

Finished the indexer, and started printing out various parts. Drivetrain gearbox was also redesigned, which took way too long. Final step is the intake, then we will get to buying parts, assembly and then electronics and coding.

Hopper, Battery Mounting, and Drivebase

Drivebase
Drivebase design complete, only minor design changes made between now and before. Heatset insert holes were added in places to make building it more modular. Drivebase assembly complete!

Battery Mounting
Decided on a Battery to power the motors with, and made the mounting box. Added ventilation with a hex pattern, which I thought was cool.

Hopper
Finished the Hopper, holds battery, and has plates for easy construction and to take apart. Hopper back plate has vents too, which look quite nice. To make the hopper more structurally stable, I added ribs to the exterior.

More CAD!
Drivebase is almost done, power transmission is complete with gearboxes and motor mounting for both 775s. Wheels have been designed as well.

Next order of business is working on the hopper. It will be mounted via two rails which I designed myself, and have printed out and tested.

Planning and CAD work

Most of the macro factors, like what motors are going to be used have been decided, and the drivebase is being designed right now. The most interesting part currently is designing the rails on which the hopper can be mounted while still being modular.