Rocket Telemetry System

Summary

This project implements a wireless telemetry system for a model rocket using ESP32 microcontrollers. The system consists of a sensor package aboard the rocket that transmits temperature, pressure, and humidity data via ESP-NOW to a ground station, which relays the telemetry to a laptop for logging and analysis.

The rocket-based system samples environmental data multiple times per second during flight and stores it both locally to onboard flash memory and transmits it in real-time to the ground. The ground station acts as a relay between the rocket and a USB-connected laptop running data logging software. When a predetermined timeout has elapsed, the rocket stops logging telemetry and activates a BLE beacon to help you locate the landing site.

Implementation Details

Rocket Hardware

• Rocket Model: Estes Cosmic Cargo kit
• Engine: C6-5 model rocket engine
• Total Mass at Liftoff: 72 grams (36g rocket + 36g telemetry package)
• Microcontroller: TinyPICO v2 ESP32 development board
• Sensor: BME-280 (temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity via I2C)
• Power: 1000mAh Li-Poly 3.7V battery
• Storage: LittleFS partition on onboard flash for CSV logging

Ground Station Hardware

• Microcontroller: Seeed XIAO ESP32S3 development board
• Antenna: 5dBi omnidirectional 2.4GHz antenna (IPEX connector)
• Communication: ESP-NOW using ESP32 proprietary 802.11 LR mode
• Computer Link: USB serial UART connection to laptop

Laptop Data Logger

• Python-based serial port receiver and command client
• Logs telemetry data to CSV files
• Sends text commands to the rocket via the ground station relay

Quick Setup

Prerequisites

• Install uv for Python environment management
• Copy .envrc.example to .envrc and configure your device MAC addresses and runtime parameters
  • Optionally, customize values in .envrc to change telemetry timeout, sample rate, ESP-NOW channel, BLE beacon UUID, etc.

Building and Flashing

1. Set up the Python environment:

   uv sync

2. Build firmware:

   # Rocket firmware
   cd rocket && uv run pio run
   
   # Ground station firmware
   cd ground-station && uv run pio run

3. Flash devices (use correct USB serial device paths):

   # Note: You may need to specify the USB device to flash unless you plug the boards in one at a time
   
   # Rocket (TinyPICO)
   cd rocket && uv run pio run -t upload
   
   # Ground station (XIAO ESP32S3)
   cd ground-station && uv run pio run -t upload

Debugging

Serial console output can be monitored via uv run pio device monitor from inside either the rocket or ground-station directories.

Customization

• Board models can be customized by editing platformio.ini files in the respective firmware directories
• Runtime parameters (MAC addresses, sensor intervals, ESP-NOW channel, etc.) are configured via environment variables listed in .envrc.example