Design and Testing of an Airbrake System for a Sounding Rocket

The University of Georgia’s International Rocketry Engineering Competition (IREC) Team is developing a robust airbrake design for use on the 2025 competition rocket. A significant portion of the score consists of achieving apogee at 10,000 feet. This research delves into the design, analysis, integration, manufacturing, and control theory for the airbrake system. An analysis of the airbrakes will be performed by using analytical calculations along with FEA and CFD simulations. By using an altimeter to measure altitude and an IMU to measure acceleration, we will derive velocity to determine the extent to which air brakes must be deployed to create a calculated drag force for the determined apogee. The input of the altimeter along with the response measured from the IMU is used in a Model Predictive Controller (MPC). The output determined by the controller then actuates the airbrakes system through a servo with physical constraints and costs represented in the control system. We intend to perform analyses to prove that this system is effective in controlling apogee during ascent and can be implemented on future competition rockets.