L’équipe Rocket Team de l’EPFL recrute en permanence de nouveaux membres afin d’agrandir le projet !
Si vous êtes motivé(e) et recherchez une expérience pratique en plus de vos cours, nous vous invitons à rejoindre notre famille passionnée !
Vous bénéficierez de :
Vous avez également la possibilité de participer pour des crédits dans le cadre de votre projet de Bachelor’s ou Master’s.
N’hésitez pas à nous contacter si vous voulez nous rejoindre ou si vous avez des questions.
S’assurer que tout rentre dans la fusée et coordonner tous les sous-systèmes.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Toutes les sections; expérience en gestion de projets
Assurer l’aérodynamisme et la résistance de la fusée.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Génie mécanique, matériaux
Faire des calculs et des simulations pour caractériser l’aérodynamisme de la fusée.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Génie mécanique, Physique; bases de CFD
Développer et tester un moteur hybride ainsi que l’équipement de soutien au sol (GSE) pour la Spaceport America Cup 2020 dans la catégorie hybride 10k pieds SRAD (Student Research And Development).
Compétences et sections recherchées: Chimie, Physique, Génie mécanique, Matériaux, Electronique; bases de programmation
Ralentir la chute de la fusée pour assurer un atterrissage en toute sécurité.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Physique, Génie mécanique, Microtechnique
L’Avionique permet à la fusée de connaitre et d’envoyer au sol des informations sur la fusée (position, vitesse, accélération…) et de contrôler les Aérofreins en conséquence. Les Aérofreins aident la fusée à atteindre une altitude spécifique en la ralentissant en augmentant sa traînée.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Génie mécanique, Matériaux, Microtechnique, Physique, Electronique, SysCom, Informatique; bases de programmation
Concevoir et produire une expérience scientifique qui sera réalisée pour être expulsée de la fusée à l’apogée. Par exemple, nous avons conçu un détecteur de muons et une expérience d’amortissement avec des fluides non newtoniens.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Toutes les sections; bases de programmation
Recevoir les informations de la fusée et les afficher. Travailler sur un système permettant d’améliorer la localisation de la fusée à partir du sol à l’aide des caméras.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Génie mécanique, Microtechnique, Physique, Electronique, SysCom, Informatique; bases de programmation
Développement d’un simulateur de vol spécifique à nos fusées ainsi que des tests de résistance des différentes pièces.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Microtechnique, Physique, Electronique, SysCom, Informatique; bases de programmation
Gérer l’ensemble de la communication de l’EPFL Rocket Team, à l’intérieur du campus de l’EPFL, mais aussi à l’extérieur avec les médias. Créer et partager du contenu sur nos réseaux sociaux (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube…) et sur notre site web. Trouver et organiser des événements où l’équipe peut présenter toutes ses réalisations.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Toutes les sections; maîtrise de la suite Microsoft Office, de la suite Adobe, de WordPress, des réseaux sociaux ainsi qu’une maîtrise du français et de l’anglais.
Trouver de nouveaux sponsors pour aider le projet à se développer ainsi que gérer nos relations avec nos sponsors actuels.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Toutes les sections; expérience en gestion de projets
Gérer la logistique (transport, nourriture, hébergement…) pour tous les événements auxquels participe l’EPFL Rocket Team; comme la competition en juin, les lancements en Suisse et en Pologne tout au long de l’année.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Toutes les sections; maîtrise du français et de l’anglais
Gérer les flux comptables de l’association tout au long de l’année, aider à l’établissement du budget de l’association, tenir les comptes.
Compétences et sections recherchées: Toutes les sections; maîtrise du français et de l’anglais
Project Description:
The EPFL Rocket Team is an interdisciplinary project and an association which goal is to build a rocket and participate in an international competition in the USA. At the competition, the rocket must reach 10’000 feet (3’048m) and in the future we will aim at 30’000 feet.
The tank holds the liquid propellant for our hybrid motor. It has plumbing with passes through the Valve Bay, where the controls are, and into the combustion chamber for the combustion phase.
This year, we made a 1st structural tank, in order to increase the useful diameter and decrease the length of the whole tank. The current version is an aluminium tube to which caps are welded and the whole is annealed in order to create the finished product, the three initial parts pictured right.
The goal of this project is to optimise the 1st version of the structural tank which has been designed with only the structural integrity as priority. Wires must be passed alongside the tank, to link the avionics with the valve bay and airbrakes.
The main tasks for this project are to optimise the design of the tank and justify the choice of having welded caps or use another method and ensure that the tank holds the flight forces.
The skills you will need (or want to learn):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1-2
Contact: alejandra.plaice@epfl.ch
Supervisor: TBD
Project Description:
The EPFL Rocket Team is an interdisciplinary project and an
association which goal is to build a rocket and participate in an
international competition in the USA. At the competition, the
rocket must reach 10’000 feet (3’048m) and in the future we will
aim at 30’000 feet.
The couplers are the aluminium parts that are glued to the carbon
tubes and allow us to assemble and disassemble the different
sections of the rocket for an easier assembly. The current design
is pictured in Figure 1.
The goal of this project is to have a usable design at the end which
fills the same function but allows for a bigger passing diameter and
is easy and quick to assemble. A first project looking into the new
design has been completed and can be used as support to ensure
that the paths that have already been explored and are no longer
options are not used. The design that came from this project is
incomplete.
The main tasks for this project are firstly to finish the design process, whether it is based on
the design of the previous project, or using the information collected during that project as
support. Secondly a structural analysis on the different elements of the assembly to ensure it
is sound during flight.
The skills you will need (or want to learn):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1
Contact: alejandra.plaice@epfl.ch
Supervisor: TBD
Project Description:
The EPFL Rocket Team is an interdisciplinary project and an association which goal is to build a rocket and participate in an international competition in the USA. At the competition, the rocket must reach 10’000 feet (3’048m) and in the future we will aim at 30’000 feet.
The bonding is used to hold together the aluminium parts to the carbon tubes which make up the rocket body. The aluminium parts are then attached together to build the rocket.
The goal of this project is to redesign the bonding interface.
The main tasks for this project are to identify the forces in play at the interface, choose the glue to be used and establish an appropriate procedure for the bonding which ensures that the effective value is a close as possible to the theoretical value.
The skills you will need (or want to learn):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1
Contact: alejandra.plaice@epfl.ch
Supervisor: TBD
Project Description:
The EPFL Rocket Team is an interdisciplinary project and an association which goal is to build a rocket and participate in an international competition in the USA. At the competition, the rocket must reach 10’000 feet (3’048m) and in the future we will aim at 30’000 feet.
The fins module is placed at the very end of the rocket, where the motor exhaust comes out. Its purpose is to allow for a high filling ratio (Ø Combustion Chamber / Ø Rocket) as well as to rigidly maintain the fins in place. The current model looks like Figure 1.
The goal of this project is to redesign the fins module in order to prepare for a supersonic flight.
The main tasks for this project are to integrate the fins into the rocket, while ensuring that the aerodynamic shape from the outside is appropriate for supersonic flight. The fins can be detachable, but it is not a necessity if having them completely integrated is viable. The boat tail (bottom element in the above picture) will be directly integrated into the module as such it will have to be conical rather than cylindrical, a new concept which has not previously been used!
The skills you will need (or want to learn):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1-2
Contact: alejandra.plaice@epfl.ch
Supervisor: TBD
Project Description:
The ERT Avionics subsystem oversees the computing of the state of the rocket thanks to its numerous on-board sensors. The sensors data is first extracted from the sensors then refined to obtain a cleaner state estimation through a Kalman filter. The performances of the Kalman filter depend on a lot of parameters which were not quantified, and the sensors’ calibration is one of them. Those data are useful for the control of the rocket and will be needed for active stabilization.
Problematic:
Your role is to work on the Avionics’ sensors’ calibration, find the best suited algorithms, implement them, and to characterize the code’s performances.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that you are willing to learn):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1
Contact: mathieu.udriot@epfl.ch, arion.zimmermann@epfl.ch
Supervisor: TBD
Project Description:
The EPFL Rocket Team is an interdisciplinary project and an association which goal is to build a rocket and participate in an international competition in the USA. At the competition, the rocket must reach 10’000 feet (3048m) and in the future we will aim at 30’000 feet (about 9 km).
The rocket needs to know its altitude to get precisely to the targeted apogee. To do this, it has a flight computer that interfaces different sensors, processes the data from the sensors and sends commands and telemetry.
To build this computer, the team uses host boards, on which the peripherals with the different functions are plugged. As the rocket will change in size, speed and complexity to aim at 30’000 feet, it is necessary to design new electronic cards. They will need to be adapted to the new diameter of the rocket and to host powerful microcontrollers to be able to operate more quickly.
Your goals
You will need to make one or more PCBs that can be stacked. These boards will need to have modular sockets to interface e.g. pressure sensors, accelerometers and a radio. Why not continue in the same vein as the previous years by implementing a more powerful can bus.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that you are willing to learn):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1
Contact: martin.simik@epfl.ch
Supervisor: TBD
Project Description:
The EPFL Rocket Team is an interdisciplinary project and an association which goal is to build a rocket and participate in an international competition in the USA. At the competition, the rocket must reach 10’000 feet (3048m) and in the future we will aim at 30’000 feet (about 9 km). The avionics of the rocket uses many different sensors to determine its state, including accelerometers and barometers for direct measurements of acceleration and altitude and we need to understand how the barometer behaves in supersonic regime.
To improve the electronics state estimation, a direct measurement of the rocket’s airspeed would be an additional asset of value to the avionics. A study for a student-made pitot tube would therefore constitute a valuable and plausible solution to improve the rocket’s flight performance.
The objective of this project is to design + simulate + characterize a pitot tube as
SRAD (Student Researched and Developed) as possible.
Tasks:
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: NOT SPECIFIED
Contact: mathieu.udriot@epfl.ch, martin.simik@epfl.ch
Supervisor: TBD
Project Description:
The fuel currently in use for our hybrid motor is made of additive manufactured ABS. This manufacturing process allows a large freedom regarding the part’s geometry but comes with several disadvantages such as the limited machines available and the poor repeatability.
The goal of this project is to design a fuel grain based on the materials selected and on the injector’s geometry (fluids behavior in the combustion chamber). Experiencing with different manufacturing process can also be part of the project, depending on progression during the semester.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that should be learned with the project):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1-2
Contact: theophile.balestrini@epfl.ch
Supervisor: TBD
Project description :
The oxidizer currently used in the combustion reaction is nitrous oxide, kept liquid by its own pressure. As the tank empties, the temperature decreases due to decompression and thus the pressure as well. As the N2O mass flow rate into the combustion chamber is driven solely by its pressure, the engine’s performances will drop across the complete burn time.
The goal of this project is to study the feasibility of using an additional pressurization system into the rocket to keep the tank pressure constant.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that should be learned with the project):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1-2
Contact: theophile.balestrini@epfl.ch
Supervisor: Pierre-Alain Mäusli
Project description :
The ignition of our engine is currently using a pyrotechnic igniter that is inserted in the combustion chamber prior to flight. It is a low-cost solution that has proven its efficiency but still lacks repeatability and, most importantly, cannot re-ignite the engine as it will be needed in the future.
The goal of this project is to design an ignition system that will be fully integrated to the motor and can be initiated at any stage of the rocket’s flight.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that should be learned with the project):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1-2
Contact: theophile.balestrini@epfl.ch
Supervisor: Pierre-Alain Mäusli
Project description :
The hybrid engine propelling our rocket requires to be operated right before launch
in order to function properly. For safety reasons, no personnel are allowed near the launch pad during these necessary operations.
Therefore, we have developed an electronics system (seen in Figure 1), so that all operations can be remotely conducted from our ground station located further away. These electronics are, amongst other tasks, in charge of the ignition of the engine, the control of high-pressure valves, and control of a disconnection system to uncouple the rocket from the Launch Rail before lift-off. These tasks require a relatively high-power output, which is not currently well handled.
Your goal, for this project, will be to design and manufacture a Printed Circuit Board dedicated to the control of high-power devices in conjunction with the main computation modules shown in Figure 1.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that should be learned with the project):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1
Contact: lucas.pallez@epfl.ch
Supervisor: TBD
Project description :
The engine currently being used in our rocket is what is called a Hybrid engine,
meaning that the propellant used is a combination of a solid grain and an oxidizer
in liquid form. This mix, once ignited, produces thrust to propel our rocket.
This oxidizer however needs to be conditioned in two ways before launch:
As of today, we have only used the pressure available in the oxidizer bottle to pressurize the engine’s tank. This proves to be quite limiting performance-wise.
Your goal for this project is to develop a fully-fledged plumbing system that features means to pressurize the rocket higher than the bottle pressure, as well as actively control the temperature of the fluid in its containers.
For safety reasons, nobody can be present around the Launch Rail during this phase of the operations. Your system will thus be remotely controlled by the electronics we are also developing.
This system would then be used to fuel the rocket on the Launch Rail before launch for tests in Switzerland and at the Competition!
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that should be learned with the project):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 2-3
Contact: lucas.pallez@epfl.ch
Supervisor: TBD
Project Description:
The EPFL Rocket Team is an interdisciplinary project and an association which goal is to build a rocket and participate in an international competition in the USA. Our goal next year is to compete in a category that requires our rocket to reach a 30’000 feet apogee.
Since Switzerland has a very densely used airspace, we have limited testing capacity, meaning we cannot afford to be empirical in our design choices.
We have internally developed a simulator that predicts very precisely the rocket’s flight. But with next year’s goal of reaching 30’000 feet, the rocket is going to reach a supersonic speed, which our simulator doesn’t work with well at the moment since being faster than the speed of sound has a lot of physical implications.
The purpose of this project is to upgrade our 6 degrees of freedom simulator so it can correctly simulate supersonic speeds. We are currently doing a 1D approximation in case of supersonic speeds, but we think that improvements are possible through implementation of advanced physics phenomena (for instance with the help of literature from NASA).
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1-2
Contact: antoine.scardigli@epfl.ch
Supervisor: TBD
Project Description:
The EFPL Rocket Team (ERT) plans to go supersonic in the near-future, which is why the team wants to investigate as much as possible the potential consequences on the rocket.
Previous Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) studies of ERT’s Bella Lui rocket found that a region contributing to drag is located where exhaust gases are meant to be exiting. The figure on the side shows this region of low pressure (in dark blue) when the rocket reaches Mach 1.8.
However, these previous CFD studies done by ERT members did not account for the flow of exhaust gases. In fact, only the supersonic flow around the rocket was considered in these studies.
The goal of this semester project is to determine the aerodynamic consequences of the motor’s gas flow on the overall external flow. Having knowledge of this would be beneficial for the team as it would provide a better understanding of the required level of detail to be simulated for obtaining decent enough drag estimations.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that you are willing to learn):
Timeframe : Spring 2021
Number of participants : 1
Contact : kevin.marangi@epfl.ch
Supervisor : TBD
Project Description :
As part of our new research project on Thrust Vector Control, we are looking for a system engineer to coordinate the qualification phase of our different sub-systems.
The goal is to use an iterative approach base on the development of various prototypes and test facilities to support many tests of growing complexity throughout
the whole project.
To do this, a manufacture and test plan will be developed as a tool to follow the different prototypes developed by the team. The student’s job will be to guarantee a smooth qualification of these prototypes, up to the complete flight model.
As a system engineer, the student will also take part in the day to day management of the team, discussion with the association board and with the different laboratories involved in the project.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
1. Define Assembly, Integration and Test plan
2. Follow the tests of the small-scale module
3. Follow the tests of the flight module
Skills needed (or that you are
willing to learn):
• System engineer basic tools
• Team management
• Good communication
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1
Contact: alberic.lajarte@epfl.ch
Professor: Volker Gass
Project Description :
As part of our new research project on Thrust Vector Control, we are developing different prototypes to test our control algorithms on flight.
One of them is a special drone that mimics the dynamic of a rocket by generating thrust with two contra-rotating propellers mounted on a two axes gimbal.
The second one is small scale rocket of 1m50 in length, controlled by jet vanes that redirect the flux of the rocket engine to generate controlled torque on the rocket.
Both of these prototypes are using a model predictive control algorithm to stabilize them and track reference positions. They will be used as demonstrators for the final flight model currently developed for the large size rocket.
The student will be part of a team of students working on these prototypes, and help on the development of the control and guidance algorithms. The student will also take part in the test campaign involving real flights.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that you are
willing to learn):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1
Contact: alberic.lajarte@epfl.ch
Professor: Colin Jones
Project Description :
As part of our new research project on Thrust Vector Control, we are looking for a mechanical engineer to design and build our jet vanes system.
This work includes the design of the jet vane shape itself, as well as the mechanism associated with it, and the design of the interface between the mechanism and the rocket.
A first iteration of this work will be realized for a small-scale rocket to do preliminary tests. The student will support the manufacture and test processes which will help him improve the design of the final flight model for our larger rocket (Bellalui 2).
A final test campaign will then be realized on the flight model to assess its performance prior to the first flight.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that you are
willing to learn):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1
Contact: alberic.lajarte@epfl.ch
Professor: Pierre-Alain Mäusli
Project Description :
As part of our new research project on Thrust Vector Control (TVC), we need to develop a custom interface between the main electronics of the rockets, our control algorithms, and the actuators of the TVC mechanism.
This work will start with the design and manufacture of a simple printed circuit board (PCB) to integrate a microprocessor (Raspberry Pi) and communication with our actuators. This board will be connected to our main electronics to get navigation data which will be used by our control and guidance algorithms running on the microprocessor.
These functions will be implemented in C++ by one of our main electronics’ microcontroller and tested in real conditions during ground and flight tests.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that you are
willing to learn):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1
Contact: alberic.lajarte@epfl.ch
Professor: Philippe Müllhaupt
Project Description :
As part of our new research project on Thrust
Vector Control, we need to develop reliable CFD
simulations to assess the performances of our jet
vane design.
The first step in this analysis will be to study the
aerodynamic property of our vane design in order
to find the relation between their angle of attack
and the torque it creates on the rocket. This will be
done using analytical and CFD models suited for
supersonic flow.
The second step will be to find the right materials
and shapes to minimize drag and erosion of the
vane due to the high velocity and temperature of
the engine jet.
This work will be implemented during the project by the team on different prototypes for ground and flight tests.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that you are
willing to learn):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 2
Contact: alberic.lajarte@epfl.ch
Professor: Flavio Noca
Project Description :
As part of our new research project on Thrust Vector Control (TVC), we need to develop ground test facilities to characterize and test our systems.
The most important part of the project will be to work on the augmentation of our current motor test bench to measure sides forces and torques. This includes selection of force and torques sensors, mechanical design and sensor acquisition.
Additionally, we will investigate additional test setup that could be used to test dynamically our systems, for example gimbal motor test bench to allow for 2 or 3 degree of freedom during stabilization test, the development of a medium size drone, water rockets, or commercial of the shelf small scale rocket.
The choice of which additional setup will be developed is not entirely defined, and will also depends on the student skills and interests.
A general idea of the project’s unfolding:
Skills needed (or that you are
willing to learn):
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: 1
Contact: alberic.lajarte@epfl.ch
Professor: Pierre-Alain Mäusli
Project Description :
The EPFL Rocket Team is an interdisciplinary project and an association which goal is to build a rocket and participate in an international competition in the USA. At the competition, the rocket must reach 10’000 feet (3048m) and in the future we will aim at 30’000 feet.
As sustainability becomes a more and more important topic, also within engineering project, we would like to assess the life cycle of our rockets and understand the environmental impact of the whole project. Everything must be looked at, from design, fabrication processes and launches to external activities like transportation and logistics. If we understand where most of the pollution or wasting is generated from, we can take decisions on future development to limit those and work toward a more environmentally sustainable interdisciplinary project.
Tasks:
Timeframe: Spring 2021
Number of participants: NOT SPECIFIED
Contact: mathieu.udriot@epfl.ch
Professor: TBD
