Meet Erica Traini. Erica was a student of Mechanical Engineering at Northeastern University when she joined 3DEXPERIENCE Lab at Waltham, MA as a co-op candidate two years ago. 

She had been a member of her school’s Rockets Club and had launched numerous model rockets throughout her stint with the club. When we prompted her to pursue a personal project during her time with the Lab, she knew right away that she wanted to build a rocket.

Purpose: The rocket was created to explore how tools of digital fabrication in a maker space/ fab lab could be used to create something really cool that could actually get off the ground. Another aim was to try as many workflows around digital fabrication as possible to assist the build.

Design: The rocket Erica created is 172 cm tall and 75 mm in diameter. It has a nosecone length of 30 cm and a motor tube that is compatible with any 54 mm solid propellant motor. When creating the design, she used SOLIDWORKS to model everything inside the rocket. Rockets tend to look relatively simple from the outside, but have a lot going on inside. Therefore, SOLIDWORKS was a vital tool in making sure everything interfaced correctly. Before moving on to the building phase of this project, she used SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation to make sure that the airflow over the rocket was optimum for flight. Erica also used a program called OpenRocket that helps to model the rocket’s center of pressure and estimates its achievable altitude using motor thrust curves.

The Build: Erica used Sindoh 3D printers, Epilog Mini and Trotec Speedy 400 laser cutters, Roland vinyl cutter, Roland CNC mill, the electronics station, and a bunch of hand tools available in the Lab.

Cool Features:

3D Printed Electronics Bay:

This rocket has a 3D printed Electronics bay (e-bay, for short). Typically, e-bays are created using wooden sleds and threaded rods. A lot of hardware is required using this method, which can be costly and heavy. Furthermore, when using the conventional method, any electronics hardware needed must be mounted using standoffs and screwed down securely. Using a 3D printed e-bay in her rocket, Erica was able to customize the location and retention of the electronics and power supplies. Additionally, because it was 3D printed, she could easily edit the design and print a new e-bay if her electronics requirements changed.

Large Payload Bay:

Near the nosecone, there is a spacious compartment of the rocket that is ideal for carrying any experiment. Currently, it is being used to house a GoPro Camera, which provides excellent footage of the launch from inside the rocket. This bay can be modified to house nearly anything; perhaps even a small rover!

Seed Dispersal Unit (SDU):

Erica decided to add a functional Seed Dispersal Unit (SDU) to her design. The SDU acts much like a Cottonwood tree, which disperses its seeds attached to structures of cotton. The strands of cotton allow the seed to float through the air, and travel long distances before landing. Employing Biomimicry in her design, she decided to utilize the great heights a rocket reaches to disperse seeds far and wide. She made a prototype for the SDU that was deployed simultaneous to the recovery subsystems. It is made out of canvas and was held together using magnets.

Erica decided to name her rocket 'Moxie'

Erica was featured in a cool video on Youtube where she talked about Moxie. The video has over 140,000 views.