HAMSTER Avionics System
The HAMSTER is USCRPL’s homespun avionics system for high-powered amateur rocketry. I spent 4 years working on it, and over those 4 years, made a variety of major contributions to the technology, to the avionics team, and to the lab at large.
Key Contributions as Avionics Lead (2018-2019)
- Successful launch & subsequent flight analysis of the Traveler IV spacecraft
- Oversaw major redesign of electronics, software, and structural design, resulting in the successful performance of Traveler IV’s avionics
- Grew avionics team from 3 to 28 people; established the organization & sub-teams which remain active 7 years later; mentored younger engineers & set team culture
Key Contributions as Avionics Engineer (2015-2019)
- FlashLog - a memory management layer on top of NOR flash that records telemetry streams, detects bitflip errors from radiation, and supports rapid system state recovery in response to random power outages
- Designed & manufactured PCBs, wrote software to support broad expansions of avionics capabilities, including new sensors and radio transmission capabilities; launched on 5 unique rockets over 4 years
- Contributed to automated manufacturing equipment, including improvements for a custom-built carbon fiber filament winding machine for making cylindrical rocket fuselages
- Contributed labor to all parts of rocket manufacturing—machined metal parts with mill & lathe, laid up carbon fiber-based composites, assisted with simulations for flights and with engine testing, as well as practical experience in the logistics of rocket launches
Media
An intro presentation I put together for new members of the avionics team & the non-avionics members of lab to understand the system basics:
Custom carbon fiber filmanet-winding robot which I helped program.
Team culture presentation I gave to all lab in response to some organizational & interpersonal challenges I helped mediate.