Since 2020
38 Active Members
Lead by Gustavo Neves
Project RAVEN is the first student rocket project from LTU Kiruna Campus, counting with a multidisciplinary team of around 40 future engineers. The project’s goal is to design, build, test and launch a sounding rocket capable of achieving low supersonics speeds.
Our design counts with lightweight and highly resistant structures, mainly composed of carbon fibre, and an extensively tested hybrid propulsion system, using as fuel paraffin wax with additives and liquid nitrous oxide for the oxidiser. This SRAD approach provides the students with hands-on experience in rocket engineering and its subsystems.
After a few years theorising, building and testing a prototype engine, URSA-1, the team is now moving towards the conclusion of its prototype.
Aerodynamics carbon fibre shell designed for supersonic transition stability.
Dual-deployment parachute system with precise ejection and reusability.
Flight computer with fully redundant electronics for controlled flight.
Nitrogen regulated feed architecture operating at 300bar.
Extensively iterated engine capable of providing an average of 1400N for 6 seconds.
3 trapezoidal fins optimised for stability through CFD and flight dynamics simulations.
Beyond the work done in front of computers or in the lab, the team takes designing a rocket a step further, by applying the knowledge and adjustments made to the design to the real world by realising several tests, with these occurring almost every weekend.
Through the use of our testbench, a static test setup allows us to have the oxidiser bottles connected to all the piping, which, aided by a valve system, get released at upwards of 50bar towards our engine encompassing the fuel grain and igniters. This results in engine ignition causing a counteractive force, measured by our sensors implemented in the testbench, registering loads peaking above 1400N.
In the last couple of years the members of RAVEN have performed several different tests, namely:
Software encompasses a wide range of disciplines, from low-level device drivers, high performance network and graphics code, to statistical analysis and post-processing of the data. One of the major goals, besides writing functional code, is writing maintainable code.
VIEW TEAMElectronics is an essential part of any system, it turns the logic behind code and programming into instructions that the rest of the hardware can carry out. From commanding valves to deploying the parachutes at the precise moments, it is the invisible hand controlling the rocket during flight.
VIEW TEAMThe feeding system is responsible for the tanks and piping that enable the safe storing, filling, pressurization, monitoring, venting and distribution of the pressuriser gas and liquid oxidiser inside the rocket.
VIEW TEAMThe engine covers a major part of the propulsion system, from the injector distributing the nitrous oxide to the combustion chamber and fuel grain leading up to the exhaustion guided by the nozzle. The aim is to optimise thrust output and burn time through empirical testing.
VIEW TEAMThe structural design of our prototype is heavily influenced by CFD and FEA simulations, finding a compromise between mechanical integrity and aerodynamic performance. With the aid of our industry partner GKN, we are able to deliver a full carbon fibre package, with only 15cm of fuselage made of fibre glass for signal transmission.
VIEW TEAMOur recovery system is responsible for the safe deceleration, descent, and recovery of the rocket after flight. This includes the design of mechanisms and coordination with avionics for reliable triggering and sequencing.
VIEW TEAMOperations has become a fundamental part of the project with our growing ambitions of launching a rocket, from contacting sponsors that enable us to have the resources to build such a complex prototype, to the marketing opportunities and events that RAVEN organises and attends.
VIEW TEAMTesting has been the core of the project and it defines our identity as a very pragmatic and data-driven team. This allows us to weekly test different engine configurations, mass flow rates and intricate ways to implement the software and hardware on the piping, justifying our SRAD propulsion system.
VIEW TEAM
