Rocket Project

Introduction to Aerospace Engineering

Sept. 2020 - Oct. 2020

Technical Skills: Research, Autodesk Inventor CAD Modeling, 3D Printing, Predictions and Testing

Objective: Design a model rocket which would maximize the horizontal travel distance while in air

About:

The main project for the Introduction to Aerospace Engineering course at UVA was a rocket design project. The class was divided into groups of six (6) and each group was tasked with designing a model rocket. The goal was to design a rocket whose structure would maximize its horizontal range. The project was set up as a competition where each group was trying to design the rocket with the greatest maximum range. The rocket design would be presented to the professor, 3D printed, and then launched to test.

Lessons Learned:

This project gave me invaluable skills in assembling a product when the components came from multiple sources. This was an exciting project teaching skills in Autodesk Inventor, research, flight stability, and making predictions.

Contributions:

Each group member was assigned a different part of the rocket. In our initial concept, we designed our rocket to have wings. The idea was to use the wings to generate lift and allow the rocket to glide. This was my contribution to the project. I used Autodesk Inventor to draw the wing parts after researching wing shapes and designs of rockets with wings. After further consideration and consults with our professor, we realized that, due to the size of our rocket, the amount of drag the wings would produce would make the disadvantages of the wings outweigh the advantages.

After this I took the role of "assembler". My group members sent their parts to me and I assembled the full rocket, made the drawing file, and submitted both for 3D-printing.