Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition Rules
Basic Category:
- Design, build and launch a rocket with a 10-lb (minimum) payload closest to 10,000 feet above ground level (AGL) (14,320 feet above mean sea level).
- Rocket must reach at least 5000 feet AGL and not exceed 12,000 feet AGL to qualify for any of the awards. This altitude will be taken from the approved on-board altimeter (see below) and verified by a judge or designated surrogate during ground recovery. If no altimeter reading is available, judges will have the discretion to estimate whether the rocket was within the qualification altitude band or not.
Advanced Category:
- Design, build and launch a rocket with a 10-lb (minimum) payload closest to 25,000 feet above ground level (AGL) (29,320 feet above mean sea level).
- Rocket must reach at least 12,500 feet AGL and not exceed 27,000 feet AGL to qualify for any of the awards. This altitude will be taken from the approved on-board altimeter (see below) and verified by a judge or designated surrogate during ground recovery. If no altimeter reading is available, judges will have the discretion to estimate whether the rocket was within the qualification altitude band or not.
Rules Common to Both Categories:
Rocket design/flight:
- All rocket and payload components must be recovered. Maximum points are awarded if components are in re-flyable condition after recovery (less consumables such as propellants or battery charge).
- Maximum points are given for student-designed and -built components (including propulsion), though commercial components are acceptable.
- Non-toxic solid, hybrid, or liquid propulsion is acceptable.
- The teams will be evaluated on team organization, clear assignments of personnel, use of checklists, communication discipline, and level of preparation/readiness for launch.
- Payload design is not specified. Rocket must be designed to deliver the payload to the target altitude independent of any payload function (i.e. the payload could be replaced with ballast of the same mass with no change to the trajectory). Bonus points will be awarded based on the judges' assessment of payload functionality and innovation.
- Rockets will be required to deploy their main recovery system at between 700 and 1500 feet above ground level (AFTER descending from apogee!). At least one level of redundancy is required for the initiation electronics (including sensors and batteries).
- Teams will be required to demonstrate the initiation of their recovery system before coming to the Competition. This can either be a ground test (by "fooling" the sensor used to initiate recovery) or a flight test. A video will need to be provided to ESRA or posted on a publicly available site such as YouTube.
- A commercial altimeter must be flown to verify peak altitude. If multiple altimeters are flown, the "official" altimeter must be chosen by the team and marked before flight. A judge or designated surrogate will accompany the ground recovery team to verify the peak altitude reported by the altimeter. The altitude must be verified prior to two hours before the Awards Banquet. Therefore, it is to your advantage to be "first in line" ready to fly.
- Each rocket stage must carry a transmitter provided by the Bridgerland Amateur Radio Club (BARC) to aid in finding the rockets after launch. This is a free service but will require a $75 deposit as part of the registration fee which will be returned once the transmitter(s) are returned in good condition after the flight. Teams are still responsible for finding their rockets; BARC cannot be held responsible for loss of points, etc., if the stage with the official altimeter cannot be found prior to 2 hours before the Awards Banquet. The transmitter should be placed in an RF-transparent portion of the airframe (e.g. fiberglass; NOT metal or carbon fiber composite), or have the transmitter attached to a parachute strap or other component that will be "visible" (in the RF sense) after recovery system deployment. BARC recommends packing the transmitter and antenna in 1'2" thick foam padding to help protect it. The transmitter includes a 6.25" whip antenna and weighs 30 g (1 oz) total.
- Design, build and launch a rocket with a 10-lb (minimum) payload closest to 10,000 feet above ground level (AGL) (14,320 feet above mean sea level).
- Rocket must reach at least 5000 feet AGL and not exceed 12,000 feet AGL to qualify for any of the awards. This altitude will be taken from the approved on-board altimeter (see below) and verified by a judge or designated surrogate during ground recovery. If no altimeter reading is available, judges will have the discretion to estimate whether the rocket was within the qualification altitude band or not.
Advanced Category:
- Design, build and launch a rocket with a 10-lb (minimum) payload closest to 25,000 feet above ground level (AGL) (29,320 feet above mean sea level).
- Rocket must reach at least 12,500 feet AGL and not exceed 27,000 feet AGL to qualify for any of the awards. This altitude will be taken from the approved on-board altimeter (see below) and verified by a judge or designated surrogate during ground recovery. If no altimeter reading is available, judges will have the discretion to estimate whether the rocket was within the qualification altitude band or not.
Rules Common to Both Categories:
Rocket design/flight:
- All rocket and payload components must be recovered. Maximum points are awarded if components are in re-flyable condition after recovery (less consumables such as propellants or battery charge).
- Maximum points are given for student-designed and -built components (including propulsion), though commercial components are acceptable.
- Non-toxic solid, hybrid, or liquid propulsion is acceptable.
- The teams will be evaluated on team organization, clear assignments of personnel, use of checklists, communication discipline, and level of preparation/readiness for launch.
- Payload design is not specified. Rocket must be designed to deliver the payload to the target altitude independent of any payload function (i.e. the payload could be replaced with ballast of the same mass with no change to the trajectory). Bonus points will be awarded based on the judges' assessment of payload functionality and innovation.
- Rockets will be required to deploy their main recovery system at between 700 and 1500 feet above ground level (AFTER descending from apogee!). At least one level of redundancy is required for the initiation electronics (including sensors and batteries).
- Teams will be required to demonstrate the initiation of their recovery system before coming to the Competition. This can either be a ground test (by "fooling" the sensor used to initiate recovery) or a flight test. A video will need to be provided to ESRA or posted on a publicly available site such as YouTube.
- A commercial altimeter must be flown to verify peak altitude. If multiple altimeters are flown, the "official" altimeter must be chosen by the team and marked before flight. A judge or designated surrogate will accompany the ground recovery team to verify the peak altitude reported by the altimeter. The altitude must be verified prior to two hours before the Awards Banquet. Therefore, it is to your advantage to be "first in line" ready to fly.
- Each rocket stage must carry a transmitter provided by the Bridgerland Amateur Radio Club (BARC) to aid in finding the rockets after launch. This is a free service but will require a $75 deposit as part of the registration fee which will be returned once the transmitter(s) are returned in good condition after the flight. Teams are still responsible for finding their rockets; BARC cannot be held responsible for loss of points, etc., if the stage with the official altimeter cannot be found prior to 2 hours before the Awards Banquet. The transmitter should be placed in an RF-transparent portion of the airframe (e.g. fiberglass; NOT metal or carbon fiber composite), or have the transmitter attached to a parachute strap or other component that will be "visible" (in the RF sense) after recovery system deployment. BARC recommends packing the transmitter and antenna in 1'2" thick foam padding to help protect it. The transmitter includes a 6.25" whip antenna and weighs 30 g (1 oz) total.
Written Reports and Presentations:
- A technical paper, no longer than 6 pages of text (including tables) and 2 (separate) pages of illustrations, describing the rocket design must be submitted to experimentalsoundingrocket@gmail.com by TBD, 2012, 5:00 PM MDT. Late submissions will be assessed a 10% penalty for each 24-hour period after the due date/time. Click the links (all may not be active yet) for the paper format and papers from previous IRECs (note: there was no specified format in previous years).
- A 20-minute oral presentation on the rocket design will be given at the beginning of the competition. All participants are required to attend the presentations for their category (Basic or Advanced). Click the links (all may not be active yet) for the presentation format and presentations from previous IRECs (note: there was no specified format in previous years).
- A safety analysis (example) identifying potential hazards, risk assessment, and risk mitigating procedures must be submitted to experimentalsoundingrocket@gmail.com by TBD, 2012, 5:00 PM MDT
Team composition:
- Teams must consist of members who were matriculated undergraduate or graduate students during the previous academic year (e.g. former students who graduated shortly before the IREC are eligible). There is currently no limit on the number of students per team or how many graduate students are allowed.
Budget:
- There is currently no limit on the teams' budgets for their rockets. The more sponsorships/donations you can get, the better!
Judging:
- Recruiter-Judges from industry and academia will evaluate the teams based on criteria in the judging sheet. The judges will use grading sheets to help them decide on points to award for the following criteria: Operations, Student Design and Construction, and Payload (more grading sheets may be posted later).
- A technical paper, no longer than 6 pages of text (including tables) and 2 (separate) pages of illustrations, describing the rocket design must be submitted to experimentalsoundingrocket@gmail.com by TBD, 2012, 5:00 PM MDT. Late submissions will be assessed a 10% penalty for each 24-hour period after the due date/time. Click the links (all may not be active yet) for the paper format and papers from previous IRECs (note: there was no specified format in previous years).
- A 20-minute oral presentation on the rocket design will be given at the beginning of the competition. All participants are required to attend the presentations for their category (Basic or Advanced). Click the links (all may not be active yet) for the presentation format and presentations from previous IRECs (note: there was no specified format in previous years).
- A safety analysis (example) identifying potential hazards, risk assessment, and risk mitigating procedures must be submitted to experimentalsoundingrocket@gmail.com by TBD, 2012, 5:00 PM MDT
Team composition:
- Teams must consist of members who were matriculated undergraduate or graduate students during the previous academic year (e.g. former students who graduated shortly before the IREC are eligible). There is currently no limit on the number of students per team or how many graduate students are allowed.
Budget:
- There is currently no limit on the teams' budgets for their rockets. The more sponsorships/donations you can get, the better!
Judging:
- Recruiter-Judges from industry and academia will evaluate the teams based on criteria in the judging sheet. The judges will use grading sheets to help them decide on points to award for the following criteria: Operations, Student Design and Construction, and Payload (more grading sheets may be posted later).
