Creating A Launch Control Device

This portable rocket ignition system known as Launch Control is operated by a microcontroller and powered by the built-in battery.

In the design, an Atmel microcontroller is used to control the launch. It features 3-stage safety switch sequence along with LED-lit launch button and LED-lit safety switches. Also included are ht e 12V rechargeable Lead Gel battery, 16×2 character display, ignition circuit switched by relay, 60-second post-launch timer, and minimum ignition length timer. The whole system is enclosed in a single case with a 10m launch cable having XLR connectors.

The RN-mini control board was used for the hardware side since it is a ready-to-use microcontroller board as well as useful features such as standardized terminals, serial port, built-in voltage control, and others. A simple transistor circuit is used since a microcontroller has a difficulty for driving a relay directly. For the 4 extra ports including Safety Switch 2, Safety Switch 3, Launch Button, and Relay Output, enough ports are needed which could also drive a 4-bit LCD bus.

A PLED 2×16 character module similar to OLED is used for the display since it is much brighter and with an even higher contrast.

Rest of the project