The Ravenna Extremely-Low-Altitude Car: A Rocketship Treehouse
The Ravenna Extremely-Low-Altitude Car is a yard rocketship
treehouse nestled within the Seattle neighborhood of Ravenna.
One of the simplest ways
to explain it’s to indicate you a flight!
Not often does constructing a treehouse require welding, grinding, portray,
riveting, bending, crimping, plumbing, brazing, laser reducing,
sound design, printed circuit board fabrication, hundreds of
strains of C code, distributed community protocols, stitching and embroidery.
Ours did.
The RULAV is a hexagonal capsule, 7.5 toes (2.3 meters) excessive, atop a tripod
7.5 toes (2.3 meters) excessive, for an total top of about 15 toes
(4.6 meters). It’s about 6.5 toes (2 meters) throughout at its widest level.
The body is welded delicate metal with
riveted aluminum pores and skin. It comprises practically 800 LEDs forming dozens of
numeric shows unfold throughout 14 management panels, every with an
acrylic face laser-cut
and etched with labels corresponding to “Lunar Distance” and “Hydraulic Strain”.
The pilot controls the rocket utilizing
a joystick
and panels stuffed with working switches, knobs and buttons.
Beneath the capsule are three “thrusters” that shoot plumes of
water and compressed air beneath the
management of the pilot’s joystick, simulating actual positioning thrusters.
Takeoff and docking sequences are augmented by a paint-shaker that
simulates the vibration of a rocket engine. Sound results full the
phantasm, with a powered subwoofer that provides the rocket a satisfying rumble.
Behind the scenes, rocket operations are
managed by
three Atmega328 microprocessors
on custom-fabricated printed circuit boards,
operating a small working system, RULOS, that we
constructed only for this undertaking.
The processors talk utilizing an in-rocket TWI community
and can ultimately speak again to the home over a serial port.
A trench operating from the home to the rocket carries
12VDC energy for the lighting and electronics,
water for the thrusters,
compressed air,
and several other knowledge alerts.
The RULAV was inbuilt 2009-2010 by
Jon Howell
and
Jeremy Elson,
with a lot of help from different individuals.
This web site describes the rocket’s
design and development intimately,
together with dozens of pictures and movies.
And, for those who’re ever within the Seattle space, stop
by and visit … you’re go for launch!
