Before we started constucting the actual rocket, we started designing, simulating, and analyzing a single-stage rocket using RockSim and NASA's Rocket Modeler Interactive Simulator. Different rocket components, including the body tube, nose cone, fins, engine, and payload, were modified to evaluate how design choices affected the rocket's stability, altitude, speed, and overall flight performance. Multiple simulated launches were conducted, and the results were analyzed to optimize the rocket's design. Through this process, the project demonstrated key aerospace engineering concepts such as aerodynamics, thrust, drag, center of gravity, center of pressure, and rocket stability while applying the engineering design process of designing, testing, evaluating, and improving a solution.

The Straw Rocket project focused on designing, building, and testing a simple paper rocket powered by air pressure. Using common materials such as paper, a drinking straw, index cards, and tape, the rocket was constructed with a paper body, a cone-shaped nose, and fins for stability. After launching the rocket by blowing through the straw, the design was tested and adjusted to improve flight distance, accuracy, and stability. Through repeated testing and redesign, the project demonstrated the engineering design process and the effects of aerodynamics, including how the shape, weight, and fin placement influence a rocket's performance.

After completing the straw rocket, a second rocket, the Stomp Rocket, was built to create a more powerful and realistic launch system. Unlike the straw rocket, which was propelled by air blown through a straw, the stomp rocket used compressed air from a plastic bottle to generate much greater thrust. This allowed us to test how the same aerodynamic principles, such as fin placement, nose cone shape, and stability, performed under higher launch forces. Building a second rocket also gave us the opportunity to compare different propulsion methods, refine our designs based on previous testing, and apply the engineering design process by improving performance through redesign and experimentation.

For this project, we programmed a small drone using Python to detect different surfaces based on their colors. We controlled the drone with a handheld controller while its sensors identified the colored areas below it. This project demonstrated how drones and aircraft can use sensors to detect information that may be difficult for the human eye to recognize, which can be useful for navigation, mapping, environmental monitoring, and search-and-rescue operations.