Post by larrykoskie on Aug 17, 2015 19:57:53 GMT -5
This the schematic for the launch controller that pairs up with the relay boxes that I posted earlier. Switches S1-S5 down the left side of the diagram are the bank switches. The launch pads are connected in banks (Bank A, Bank B, through Bank E). Each bank of pads is connected to a relay box. There are 5 relay boxes (Bank A through Bank E). Each bank or each relay box has 6 pads connected to it. Each pad is numbered from 1 through 6. So with 5 banks of pads and 6 pads per bank, there are 30 pads in all in this rocket launch system. The controller also has 30 LEDs, one for each pad. Across the top of the controller there are 6 switches (S6-S11), one for each pad in each bank. When a bank is selected and it's switch turned on and one pad number is selected and turned on, that one LED in that bank and under that pad number is powered on. The bank switches and pad switches are dual pole switches with one pole used to power the LEDs. While the other side of the dual pole switch is used to connect to pins on the Arduino Mega 2560 through a 1K resistor (resistors R1-R11). By turning on the bank switch and a pad switch one single pad is selected. The bank switch sends a signal to the relay boxes that activates only one relay box. A key operated switch on the controller sends a signal to the selected relay box and turns on mosfet 7 which activates the DPDT relay and a strobe light which alerts everyone that this bank is armed. A momentary switch on the controller is then pushed and a signal is then transmitter to the relay box and powers the mosfets M1-M6 that are selected by switches S6-S11 on the controller. By selecting more than one pad number on the controller will cause more than one pad to be launched. Also selecting more than one bank will cause more than one relay box to be activated. Under normal operation, one bank is selected and one pad on that bank is selected which in turn causes one rocket to be launched on that pad number on that bank of pads. Then you select another pad on the bank until all rockets on that bank are launched. Then another bank is selected and the pads are launched one at a time until they are all launched, moving to the next bank and so on. But under rare situations we can have a drag race and select multiple pads on one bank or even select multiple banks of pads too. So that is the basic operation of the controller and the relay boxes. But there is more. Each relay box has a continuity circuit that tests if the igniter is properly connected. Each relay box has 6 LEDs that show if there is proper continuity and the relay box Arduino sends a signal back to the Arduino in the controller that has an additional 30 LEDs that show which pads have proper continuity. The continuity circuit is included on the schematic for the relay boxes but it is omitted on the schematic of the controller as well as the key switch and the momentary switch. The key switch and the momentary launch button are simply connected to pins on the Arduino and run to ground. On the controller there are 30 output pins on the Arduino connected to the 30 continuity LEDs. Actually the 30 LEDs on the controller are all 2 color LEDs with green being lit up for continuity and red lit up when that pad is selected to be launched. So I didn't want to add the additional wiring to show the continuity circuitry on the controller. It is simple enough 30 LEDs connected to 30 pins on the Arduino. So that is about it, let me know if this is understandable or if something could be expressed differently to make it easier to understand.
