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Maverick Rocketeers Pursue Space Access
Mad.Scientist writes "This article at Space.com is about mavericks who are trying to lessen the cost of going into space. One of the companies, Armadillo Aerospace, is founded by John Carmack, who is also a founder of Id Software, and the brain behind games such as Doom or Quake. I just have to say, godspeed to all." Carmack is only one of the people mentioned in this story, but see our previous story for more on Carmack's rocketry habit.
>Are you now using an inertial guidance system or is there a better alternative?
>I assume that GPS does not provide enough accuracy for low speed guidance
We are currently using a Crossbow inertial unit with fiber optic gyros for the fast attitude stabilization.
We have flown GPS on a couple flights, but the update rate is too slow for active control. I do feel that in the longer term, carrier wave interferometry GPS sensors will offer the most cost effective attitude sensors, but right now they are $15,000+ system. If I was doing this on a much tighter budget, I would consider trying to build a fast updating CW GPS system from available cheap GPS cores, but that is a project of significant complexity all by itself.
I have integrated a new laser altimeter with the electronics box, but we haven't flown it yet. I am looking forward to this, because it will allow us to begin working on auto-hover and auto-land control software.
John Carmack