2023-2024 Team Hōkūlele Project

August 2023 - 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.


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