ROCKET TEST SITE The Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) is situated within the moutains and valleys just beyond New Mexico Tech in Socorro, New Mexico. During my employment there my primary project was engineering the instrumentation and data acquisition systems to test a new carbon fiber composite rocket engine. The Scorpius liquid fuel rocket designed by Microcosm Inc. is seen at right during the first 200 second burn conducted at our site. The test bed is designed to deliver liquid oxygen and fuel into the chamber in the correct amounts at the correct times. To accomplish this several layers of instrumentation and control were necessary.
DATA ACQUISITION and CONTROL For our solution we used a National Instruments SCXI signal conditioning system with a 16 bit high performance DAQ board. Configured in this way we had access to up to 32 channels of analog input, 2 channels of analog output, 8 channels of relay control, and assorted digital I/O. To support all of the available hardware capabilities, I developed a custom software package using National Instruments Labview. As seen in the picture at right, the software had three main functions: countdown, valve accuatation, and data acquisition. Combined with some feedback and shutdown features, the engine could be fired and taken down all from within a safe underground bunker. Since this project my interest and experience in labview software development has expanded into broader domains. I'm well acquainted with all of National Instrument's product line and software solutions. If interested in sample code or consulting, please don't hesitate to email me.
SIDEWINDER MISSLE TESTS During my first summer of work at the EMRTC I was given the opportunity to assist in the testing as pictured at right The Navy wanted to know the reaction of a sidewinder missle when hit with high velocity shrapnel. To simulate this a Korean war era artillary gun was used to fire a small metal square encased in a sabot. The large plate you can see in front of the target is used to strip off the sabot while letting the shot continue through to the target.