It's actually a Tomy timer. One M in "Tomy". But yes, it is very popular, and easy to make and adapt.PTrockets wrote:Hello everyone,
The first project is very simple and also very popular. It's a airflap parachute deploy. (Without tommy timer_I will not present the tommy timer parachute deploy because I have one already). It's a mechanism that deploy the chute when the rocket lifts off.
This is hit or miss. Most of the time the nose comes off when the rocket decelerates as it is still going up. Most of the remaining times the nose doesn't come off at all. It works so infrequently that when it does work it is quite satisfying.The second project is the most popular and simple. It's called the NOAA parachute deployment system. It's a system that deploy the parachute after the apogee.
This is actually quite difficult to get right. The balloon is actually a really strong spring, so it will push the nose off unless you have something really strong holding it in place. We've used balloon springs in the past and the most useful are the long skinny ballons that they make balloon animals from. You make a long one and bend it in half to make a spring. It has a lot less force in this manner.The third project is almost like the previous. It's a NOAA deployment system with a ballon. The ballon helps the nosecone to jump of the rocket.
This probably will come off a lot when the rocket decelerates. The extra weight will pull the nose off right after the air burst because the drag on the rocket body will slow the body down and the mass of the tennis ball will pull off the nose.The fourth project it's a NOAA system too. It's a bit different because the nosecone is a tennis ball inserted in a toilet paper roll (the parachute is inside the roll and it's attached to the tennis ball_ and the ball is attached to the rocket).
We have had a lot of success wit ha similar system, The hardest part is getting the timing right. The chemicals can take a long time to react and the time is unpredictable unless you remove variables. The ideal system will have little room for the gasses to expand into so there is little space for the gas to compress into. The other variable to look at is temperature, which can influence the speed of reaction. If you warm the chemicals, they will work much faster than when they are cold.The fifth project is the most complicated of all. It's a baking soda and vinegar reaction chute deployment. The compressed air of the chemical reaction extends a serynge and realease the parachute. It's basead on the AntiGravity Corporation World Record Pop Bottle Rocket.
Keep us appraised of your progress developing these methods. It is always good to see people improving the old designs.