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About the team

Ontario Tech Space & Rocketry is a student design team based in Oshawa, with passionate individuals who aim to develop an 13ft high-powered research rocket to reach an altitude of 20,000 ft in the Launch Canada Competition this August!

 

 

Launch Canada Competition

 

Last year, 27 teams launched solid, liquid, and hybrid rockets, and our team was one of them, conducting research on radiation detection.

 

OUR DIVISIONS

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Aerostructures

Aerostructures focuses on the design and manufacture of lightweight airframe components such as fins, body tubes, and the nosecone as well as internal spacing. The department's goal is to build a flight-stable 13-ft bodywork made of filament wound fiberglass and … Using the knowledge gained from literature review, the team will be responsible for designing and fabricating the airframe, nose cone, payload and electronics, and motor bays. Challenges include calculation and analysis of airframe stress distribution, fin stresses, Aerodynamic Analysis, and design & manufacturing processes.

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Propulsion

A rocket is meant to fly, and without our propulsion department this wouldn't be possible. Propulsion focuses on making sure the rocket can reach this years altitude objective of 20,000 feet through the use of commercial rocket motors. These motors utilize the immense energy released in chemical combustion reactions to eject mass downward, launching the rockets upward. Most rockets use solid fuel motors, but it is possible to use liquid fuel, or even a hybrid composition for fuel! Our propulsion department also makes concerted efforts to get more of our team members certified with official high power rocketry (HPR) associations. Higher level certifications allow for the use of larger, more powerful motors that emphasize the "high power" in high power rocketry.
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Avionics

The brains of the rocket. A typical rocket uses an avionic system housed in a single electronics bay, or e-bay, this includes a flight computer, ranging from a simple microcontroller to a sophisticated computer board. The avionics department focuses on all the aircraft electronics and control systems that are responsible for all the sensors aboard the rocket. The flight computer receives measurements from sensors and determines when to trigger events such as parachute deployment and engine staging. Some sensors include an inertial measurement unit (IMU), an altimeter, a GPS and RF tracker, etc.

Payload

A rocket's purpose is to deliver a payload, the payload department will be focused on performing research in the earth's atmosphere. This year, our payload is Nuclear focused and will be performing research on radiation shielding. Some challenges we face are noise filtering, bay size limitation, deployment mechanism & altitude reading.

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Recovery

A major goal in high-powered rocketry is to safely recover a rocket after it has been launched. Our recovery department focuses on incorporating devices that return the rocket safely to the ground. Recovery systems work by using drag force to overcome the force of gravity and subsequently cause the rocket to slowly descend. The team also focuses on improving safety to allow the rocket to be re-used if undamaged upon landing.

Outreach

If you are feeling inspired and looking to include more STEM in the community near us, outreach might just be the department for you. Similar to the Engineering Outreach Program, our outreach department focuses on promoting diversity and inclusivity within Oshawa, and the Ontario Tech community. The team is currently developing rocketry STEM-based content.
 

We focus on using the thrill of rocketry to promote diversity and inclusivity within the Oshawa & Ontario Tech STEM Community

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