Raspberry Pi RP2040 flies into space with this kit

Bringing Raspberry Pi boards into space is certainly nothing new, but the method of reaching orbit often differs. While Astro Pi computers have made their way to the final frontier aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, there are some decidedly less technological approaches including, as detailed on the Tindie blog, this $ 45 flight computer with RP2040. made by Finnish designer Dan Invents.

Photo Credit: Dan Invents Combining the RP2040 microcontroller with an altimeter, accelerometer, temperature sensor and enough power to power two servomotors (for deployment of the parachute during descent) , the Rockit (rocket operation computing kit) weighs only 5g and measures 44x22x9mm. It comes with pre-installed open-source firmware and can be updated via micro USB. There is a 16-position rotary switch to adjust parameters such as start and end positions for the servos and also a buzzer, so you can find your rocket more easily after a successful landing.

Respect to the 2MHz Apollo driving computer that took Neil Armstrong to the moon, the RP2040 is a true marvel and should be more than capable of opening the parachute based on altitude and recording flight data from sensors to a microSD card. The kit, which costs $ 44.99, only ships with the card and its pin headers - you'll need to provide your own battery, servos, wiring, and microSD card (as well as a spacesuit).

if (jQuery ("# ​​crm_srl-th_hardware_d_mh2_1"). is (": visible")) {console.log ("Edinet ADV adding zone: tag crm_srl-th_hardware_d_mh2_1 slot id: th_hardware_d_mh2"); } In a note on the official page it is explained that the device has not been tested in a real flight, but there is nothing to worry about. Source code, documentation and design files are also available on GitHub.