As the Head of the Space Exploration Division of the Astro CLub at BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus; I designed a task for the junior members of the system to get comfortable with rocket trajectory simulations using MATLAB. This assignment is useful for anyone starting off with MATLAB or looking to understand space, physics or mechanics related simulations by doing them themselves. The main body of the code along with all supporting code has been provided, the assignee's job is to understand how it works and write suitable expressions in the blanks.
The simulation of the rocket can account for these factors:
- Initial velocity of the rocket and tilt angle
- Transient mass of the rocket's payload and fuel
- Mass flow rate and exit velocity of gas during propulsion
- Changing gravity with height
- Control over gas propulsion cycles as a function of time
- Drag force from the atmosphere
The simulation cannot account for:
- Curvature of the planet
- Computational gas dynamics over the body of the rocket (the rocket is assumed to be a point)
- Temperature variations
This is a standalone assignment suitable for beginners and can be used as an education tool. Further improvements may include tidying up the code.
This project is GPL-3.0 Liscenced to Aditya Nair under GogiPuttar