Canon PowerShot S90
ƒ/2
6 mm
1/30
250

Given the challenge of the sponsors of the RocketMavericks project to fly more computational power than Apollo, Tom and Dick needed to fit the latest Sony laptop into a cylindrical airframe. And there it is, disemboweled but happily cranking in the center of the video bay.

To the right are four HD cameras at 90° offsets, so a Matrix-like reconstruction can be made after the fact to remove the effects of rocket spin. The camera recording electronics are on the far left. The “laptop” will transmit a sub-sample back to the ground station… just in case we don’t have a perfect flight.

Videorocketry is one of my favorite things, so I can’t wait to see what this captures. I have some simple HD cams planned for the same launch event. Maybe I can be the pace car, as the Beagle IV screams up my tailpipe at Mach 4.

13 responses to “Sony Video Bay”

  1. Astrocatou Avatar
    Astrocatou

    Man…the kid in me would say "take all that stuff out and light that sucker up"…see how it really flies.

    Maybe even ditch the chute and just track it optically…
    Its only money….
    !!

    Reply
  2. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    No, you want a chute when you have over a 1000 person hours invested in it!

    But, the light-it-up impulse is spot on… T-30 days and counting…

    Reply
  3. Astrocatou Avatar
    Astrocatou

    "person hours"……….??
    !!
    Got your partner to do a little work on it..?

    I was speaking to the (kid) impulse….

    Actually I suppose these heavier jobbies are less affected by post burnout drag..
    propellant is (relatively) cheap…

    Reply
  4. ideastoday Avatar
    ideastoday

    Awesome. I’m just waiting on you to build a man-rated booster. 😉

    Reply
  5. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    working on it..

    Dragon Crew Capsule

    I can take one at a time in my V-2

    V2.1 Blastoff

    Reply
  6. obskura Avatar
    obskura

    talking about small simple HD cams that can be strapped to flying implements – I recently bought a GoPro HD, which I’m very happy with. I would say it’s probably the best ultra-compact HD camera available, the video looks really good, records at 15Mbit/sec and has a 60fps option as well, and a very wide lens. It’s meant to be a helmet or action camera, and comes in with sturdy waterproof case. Weighs about 100grams without the case, or 190g with, so it’s not a major problem to strap it to an airplane (or rocket, I suppose, but I have no idea about payloads on rockets…) I don’t know how it would handle impacts, or if files are recoverable if the camera gets destroyed – I remember you asking about that a while ago…

    It’s not going to rival this setup though… 🙂 The panoramic video must be spectacular!

    Reply
  7. ideastoday Avatar
    ideastoday

    Dragon is probably out of my price range, but the V-2 looks pretty tempting!

    Reply
  8. jitze Avatar
    jitze

    You say – Maybe I can be the pace car, as the Beagle IV screams up my tailpipe at Mach 4.

    Very important to have rear-facing video to allow you to protect your rear flank – here is a situation in aviation (close kin of rocketry – sort of…) that illustrates what you’ve got to be prepared for.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1QKQih7pfg

    Reply
  9. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    love that perspective…. the aviation aviary

    Toma just ran a calculation, and even at the low end of the estimated altitude, the cameras should capture Boston and Hawaii…
    at the same time.

    Reply
  10. Astrocatou Avatar
    Astrocatou

    so what is the altitude prediction..?
    that sounds like 40+ miles..at least

    Reply
  11. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    yup, 140-220K ft.

    Reply
  12. Astrocatou Avatar
    Astrocatou

    When is this planned…?
    Maybe I will book a flight to come watch !
    Somehow this makes me think of the US after WWII with all those V2’s they tried to tweak…
    Plus the WAC and "Bumper"…
    http://www.ginanjohn.com:85/oldpals/reme/47/msslhist/index.html

    Reply
  13. Astrocatou Avatar
    Astrocatou

    Actually…surfing around the net there is a ton of fascinating history…
    The Allies were sparking up V2’s as early as a few months after the war,from Germany..
    http://www.v2rocket.com/start/chapters/backfire.html

    A bunch of big kids…just like you.

    (sort of rambling here…)

    Reply

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