New Flight Controller

Astro at Baylor — Avionics Subsystem

Flight computer, sensor acquisition, dual-deployment recovery actuation, and telemetry subsystem developed by Astro at Baylor for the 2027 Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) at Spaceport America.

Subsystem Architecture

Astro_Avionics/
├── .github/
│   ├── workflows/          # Automated CI/CD (KiCad v10 DRC/ERC, ARM GCC cross-compilation)
│   ├── ISSUE_TEMPLATE/     # Hardware ECO, firmware bug, and flight anomaly reports
│   └── PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
├── docs/                   # Flight documentation, state machines, pinouts, and link budgets
├── firmware/
│   ├── app/                # Flight state machine, telemetry dispatcher, and mission logic
│   ├── bsp/                # Board Support Package for Astro Flight Computer
│   ├── cube/               # STM32CubeMX HAL initialization and CMSIS DSP libraries
│   ├── drivers/            # Sensor drivers (Baro, High-G & Low-G IMUs, GPS, Radio, MicroSD)
│   ├── mid/                # Middleware (ring buffers, comms framing, RTOS abstractions)
│   └── tests/              # Native host unit tests and simulation mocks
├── ground-station/         # Real-time telemetry receiver, packet decoder, and mission UI
├── hardware/
│   ├── drc/                # KiCad Design Rule constraints and automated DRC check scripts
│   ├── libraries/          # Custom team footprint, symbol, and 3D model libraries
│   └── rev_a/              # KiCad v10 Flight Controller schematics, layouts, and manufacturing outputs
└── sim/                    # Software-in-the-Loop (SITL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulators

Hardware Overview (Rev A)

The Astro Avionics Flight Controller is designed in KiCad v10 to withstand high acceleration, vibration, and thermal environments typical of supersonic high-power rocket flights.

• Primary Processing Unit: STM32F405RGT6 (Arm Cortex-M4 with FPU @ 168 MHz)
• Inertial Sensing:
  • High-G Triaxial Accelerometer (high-velocity boost phase acquisition)
  • Low-G 6-DOF IMU (apogee detection, attitude estimation, and descent tracking)
• Barometric Altimetry: High-precision barometric pressure sensor for altitude & apogee determination
• Recovery & Pyrotechnics: Dual-deployment pyro firing channels (Drogue @ Apogee, Main @ configured AGL altitude) with hardware interlocks and live continuity sensing
• Telemetry & RF: Long-range transceiver for live flight telemetry packet transmission to the ground station
• Non-Volatile Logging: MicroSD card interface logging sensor telemetry at high rates

For complete design files, see hardware/rev_a/.

Toolchain & Developer Prerequisites

1. Hardware Engineering (KiCad EDA)

• KiCad v10 (or compatible KiCad 10 nightly build)
• KiCad CLI (kicad-cli) installed on system PATH for running local DRC/ERC exports

2. Embedded Firmware

• ARM Embedded Toolchain: arm-none-eabi-gcc (v10+ recommended)
• Build Systems: cmake (v3.22+) and ninja-build or GNU make
• Static Analysis: clang-format and cppcheck
• Flashing & Debugging: ST-LINK / J-Link with openocd or STM32CubeProgrammer

3. Simulation & Ground Station

• Python: Python 3.10+ with pip and virtual environment support

Quickstart Guide

Building Firmware Locally

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/chanmeletio/Astro_Avionics.git
cd Astro_Avionics

# Configure and build firmware
cmake -B firmware/build -S firmware -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=cmake/arm-none-eabi.cmake -GNinja
cmake --build firmware/build

Running Hardware DRC & ERC Headless

# Run KiCad Electrical Rules Check
kicad-cli sch erc --output hardware/rev_a/output/erc_report.json hardware/rev_a/New_Flight_Controller.kicad_sch

# Run KiCad Design Rules Check
kicad-cli pcb drc --output hardware/rev_a/output/drc_report.json hardware/rev_a/New_Flight_Controller.kicad_pcb

# Parse violations with gatekeeper script
python hardware/drc/drc-ci-check.py --drc hardware/rev_a/output/drc_report.json --erc hardware/rev_a/output/erc_report.json

Safety Protocol & Mission Rules

[!CAUTION] Pyrotechnic Safety Interlock Rule: No live e-matches or pyrotechnic charges may be connected to the flight computer in the laboratory without the physical arming key / safety shunt removed and verified with a multimeter. Live fire testing must strictly adhere to docs/safety_procedures.md.

Contributing & Development Workflow

1. Create a feature branch from develop (feat/driver-bmi088, hw/rev-a-power-trace-update).
2. Ensure DRC/ERC passes with zero errors before opening a pull request.
3. Submit a Pull Request targeting develop using the provided Pull Request Template.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.