-Acceleration:: Select a value, and then choose
-whether acceleration should be above or below
-that value. Acceleration is positive upwards,
-so accelerating towards the ground would
-produce negative numbers. Acceleration during
-descent is noisy and inaccurate, so be careful
-when using it during these phases of the
-flight.
-
-Vertical speed:: Select a value, and then
-choose whether vertical speed should be above
-or below that value. Speed is positive
-upwards, so moving towards the ground would
-produce negative numbers. Speed during descent
-is a bit noisy and so be careful when using it
+Vertical Acceleration:: Select a value, and then choose whether
+acceleration away from the ground should be above or below that
+value. Acceleration is positive upwards, so accelerating towards the
+ground would produce negative numbers. Acceleration during descent is
+noisy and inaccurate, so be careful when using it during these phases
+of the flight.
+
+Ascent rate:: Select a value, and then choose whether ascent rate
+should be above or below that value. Ascent rate is positive upwards,
+so moving towards the ground would produce negative numbers. Ascent
+rate during descent is a bit noisy and so be careful when using it
during these phases of the flight.
-Height:: Select a value, and then choose
-whether the height above the launch pad should
-be above or below that value.
+Height above pad:: Select a value, and then choose whether the height
+above the launch pad should be above or below that value.
-Orientation:: TeleMega and EasyMega contain a
-3-axis gyroscope and accelerometer which is
-used to measure the current angle. Note that
-this angle is not the change in angle from the
-launch pad, but rather absolute relative to
-gravity; the 3-axis accelerometer is used to
-compute the angle of the rocket on the launch
-pad and initialize the system.
+Orientation:: TeleMega and EasyMega contain a 3-axis gyroscope and
+accelerometer which is used to compute the orientation of the
+rocket. A record of orientations over the last 0.64 seconds is kept
+and the largest value within this period is compared with the
+specified value. Note that the tilt angle is not the change in angle
+from the launch pad, but rather absolute relative to gravity—the
+3-axis accelerometer is used to compute the angle of the rocket on the
+launch pad and initialize the system.
[NOTE]
====
whether to activate the pyro channel before or after that amount of
time.
-Ascending:: A simple test saying whether the rocket is going up or
-not. This is exactly equivalent to testing whether the speed is > 0.
+Ascending:: A deprecated configuration value which was the same as
+setting Ascent rate > 0. Existing configurations using this will be
+cleared and must be reconfigured by the user.
-Descending:: A simple test saying whether the rocket is going down or
-not. This is exactly equivalent to testing whether the speed is < 0.
+Descending:: A deprecated configuration value which was the same as
+setting Ascent rate < 0. Existing configurations using this will be
+cleared and must be reconfigured by the user.
After Motor:: The flight software counts each time the rocket starts
accelerating and then decelerating (presumably due to a motor or
motors burning). Use this value for multi-staged or multi-airstart
launches.
-Delay:: This value doesn't perform any checks, instead it inserts a
-delay between the time when the other parameters become true and when
-the pyro channel is activated.
+Delay:: Once the other parameters all become true, a timer is
+started for the specified amount of time. While the timer is running,
+the other parameters are checked repeatedly and if any of them become
+false, then the pyro channel is disabled and will not fire. If the
+timer expires and all of the other parameters have remained true for
+the entire time, then the pyro channel is fired.
Flight State:: The flight software tracks the flight
through a sequence of states:
* Boost. The motor has lit and the rocket is
- accelerating upwards.
+ accelerating upwards. Ascent rate will be greater than zero.
+ Vertical acceleration will be greater than zero.
* Fast. The motor has burned out and the
rocket is decelerating, but it is going
- faster than 200m/s.
+ faster than 200m/s. Ascent rate will be greater than zero. Vertical
+ acceleration will be less than zero.
* Coast. The rocket is still moving upwards
- and decelerating, but the speed is less
- than 200m/s.
+ and decelerating, but the Ascent rate is less
+ than 200m/s. Ascent rate will greater than zero. Vertical
+ acceleration will be less than zero.
* Drogue. The rocket has reached apogee and
is heading back down, but is above the
- configured Main altitude.
+ configured Main altitude. Ascent rate will be less than zero during
+ this state. Vertical acceleration will be negative until the rocket
+ reaches a terminal descent rate, at which point Vertical
+ acceleration will be zero. Both Ascent rate and Vertical
+ acceleration are very noisy in this state, so be careful when
+ trying to use them to control pyro channels.
* Main. The rocket is still descending, and
- is below the Main altitude
+ is below the Main altitude. Ascent rate will be less than zero
+ during this state. Vertical acceleration may be briefly less than
+ zero as the rocket slows from drogue descent to main descent, but
+ it will settle down to a zero value once the rocket has reached the
+ terminal velocity under the main chute. Ascent rate and Vertical
+ acceleration should be much less noisy once the main chute has
+ deployed.
* Landed. The rocket is no longer moving.
projects / fw / altos / commitdiff