Explosive bolt emulation by electromagnetic repulsion: First test results

 

Date : 19 March 2005.

Launch site: KennedyPark, Kortrijk, Belgium.

Launch crew: Tom, Niels, moi-meme.

 

First, the electromagnetic deployment module was mounted on a 2 x 1.5 liter Robinson-coupled pressure vessel - the green thing in the pictures.

The on-board flash capacitor was charged up to 300V and upon lauch, the inertial switch starts the RC timer.

When the timing capacitor is charged up to 200V, the thyristor is triggered and the flash capacitor discharges through the coils.

The opposite magnetic fields repel each other and the nosecone gets thrown off. The chute is deployed and the rocket lands safely.

We repeated this scenario successfully for three times with this bigger rocket.

Next, we mounted the electromagnetic deployment module on 2 different single 1.5 liter rocket bodies.

8 consecutive successful launches with these rockets.

The setup for a new launch takes very little time and deployment proved to be fool-proof.

Enjoy the pictures !