Developing a Control Algorithm and Simulation for Thrust-Vector-Controlled Rockets

Team: 47

School: Los Alamos High

Area of Science: Engineering


Proposal: In the past five years, SpaceX has revolutionized the aerospace industry by introducing a new rocket that has the ability to propulsively land. At the heart of these rockets, and virtually all orbital and suborbital spacecraft is thrust vector control (TVC). The purpose of this project is to develop a robust and versatile control algorithm for rockets and validate this model using a Matlab simulation and running the model in real life on a C++ powered model rocket with TVC capabilities. The simulation will be able to recreate a rocket’s flight based on physical aspects such as the mass moment of inertia, thrust of the engine, drag coefficient, and the control authority of the thrust vector control mount, which will be essential in tuning the control algorithm to get optimal results. The model rocket and thrust vector control mount to test this model in real life will be designed in CAD and 3D printed and a custom flight computer will be designed to run the control algorithm and collect sensor data. This board will run a version of the control algorithm written in C++ to further validate the model. The rocket, thrust vector control mount, flight computer, and simulation will ensure that the results and performance of the control algorithm model are correctly represented.


Team Members:

  Daniel Kim
  Andres Iturregui

Sponsoring Teacher: Nathaniel Morgan

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