Roton Rotary Rocket
Engineering
Senior Design Project
With the privatization of space travel, several companies have been researching cost efficient and reusable methods to build and launch spacecraft. This report describes our efforts to provide an alternative method of achieving affordable space travel. The objective of this proposal is to design and implement a flight controller that is able to autonomously navigate and maintain stability during flight. We attempt to realize this goal by combining fluid dynamics, control theory and mechatronic design. Our strategy is to use rotary wings that spin with the fuselage about an axis, which allows the entire system to be gyroscopically stable. By using simple motors and sensors, we intend to prove that a small scaled version of our flight controller can be a feasible concept. If the prototype proves to be practical, then the design may be advantageous to implement at full scale.
