/School-Holiday-Program

Materials for the BinarX school holiday program where participants develop small electronics payloads and fly them in model rockets.

Primary LanguageJupyter Notebook

BinarX Summer 2024 School Holiday Program

Program Objectives

  1. Build a basic electronics sensor payload.
  2. Develop microcontroller software to run your sensor and save the data for later processing.
  3. Design and manufacture a custom payload section to hold your payload.
  4. Build and decorate a model rocket to fly your payload.
  5. Launch your rocket and collect data during the flight! 🚀
  6. Process the data and present the results from your flight on a poster.
  7. Optional: Design and create a custom rocket team t-shirt!

Table of Sessions

Activity # GitHub Section # Session Name
1 0.0 Intro to Binar, BinarX, Summer Program & Payloads
2 1.1 Payload Selection
6 Payloads
3 3.1 Payload Section Design & Measurement of Parts for Trajectory Analysis
4 1.2 Electronic Design & Block Diagram
5 1.3 Electronic Concept Design & Breadboard Payload Prototype I
6 3.2 Payload Section Design II & 3D Printing
7 2.1 Getting Started with STM32 Microcontroller Programming
STM32L433CBT7 Pinmap
8 2.2 Reading Sensors with a Microcontroller
9 3.3 Rocket Build I
10 3.4 Rocket Build II, Surface Prep & Apply Primer Coat
11 1.3 (cont'd) Breadboard Payload Prototype II
12 2.3 Manipulating and Storing Sensor Data with a Microcontroller
13 1.5 Assemble Flight Electronics (Soldering) & Paint Rocket Livery I
14 Draft Posters
15 1.5 (cont'd) Assemble Flight Electronics (Soldering) & Paint Rocket Livery II
16 1.5 (cont'd) Assemble Flight Electronics (Soldering) & Paint Rocket Livery III
17 2.4 Flight Software Testing and Debugging
18 1.4 Debug Flight Electronics (Soldering) & Debug Flight Software
19 4.1 Plotting & Processing Payload Data
20 Vibration Shaker Testing of Payloads
21 Vacuum Chamber Testing of Payloads
22 3.5 Trajectory Analysis with OpenRocket
23 Additional Debugging
24 Payload Integration with Rocket
25 5.1 Communicating Your Work with Impact
26 Final Flight Checks
27 3.6 Rocket Launch Setup
28 Rocket Launch with Family
29 4.1 (cont'd) Flight Data Processing
30 Finalise Posters
31 Poster Presentation with Family in Engineering Pavilion

Program Preparation

Each Day:

  • Make sure you wear enclosed shoes, otherwise you won't be able to participate as you won't be permitted to enter the laboratory.(No thongs or open toed shoes or sandals).
  • Bring your lunch from home. There is no microwave or fridge available.
  • Bring a hat, sunscreen and water bottle with a lid that seals.
  • Bring a USB flash drive.
  • Bring a Microsoft Windows or Mac based laptop if you can. (this is optional as lab computers will be made available at Curtin for participants)
  • Bring a set of headphones.
  • Bring some pen and paper (or a tablet & stylus).

Before the First Day:

Parental or Carer Permission

In order to participate in the program you must return the permission form to Curtin consenting to:

  • Create an Autodesk account to use Fusion 360.
  • Create a my.st.com account to use STM32CubeIDE.
  • Create an inkscape.com account to use Inkscape.
  • The use of your image and voice in photography and videography in communications relating to the program by:
    • Curtin University,
    • The WA Department of Education,
    • WA Schools Involved in the BinarX Program, and
    • The WA Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
  • Both the participants and parents or carers being contacted with communications from Curtin University related to the program.
  • Bus the students to the launch site in the Perth area in the event that the launch is not at Curtin.