RocketPower
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The Rocket Power project, completed in October 2006, was a major IST assignment completed by the creators of this website, Willem Henskens, King Tang and Chen Gao.
Contents |
The RocketPower Project Video
Here is the main ("testing") section of our project video. The flash sections (which are somewhat more boring) have been omitted.
Content
Theory
- A history of rocketry
- An explanation of the issues involved with rocketry
- Description of the applications of rockets
- Outline of various rocket propellents
Practical
- Our rocket design
- Construction of our rocket
- Testing of the rocket
Documentation
The below content is copied from our original file, Multi_Project_17th_August.doc by Willem H.
Section A: Identification
The goal of this project, as formulated on 2006-08-25, was to inform people about the principles behind rocket propulsion, its uses and other issues related to this topic. This project to perhaps be extended to encompass instructions on how to design and build a model rocket and perhaps include multimedia of our team doing so; however restrictions on time did exist. We aimed to combine multimedia elements to effectively convey this goal to the viewer in an understandable and aesthetically pleasing manner aimed at our target audience (our class), of around 15-16 years of age. We assumed, from this age bracket, that, while the multimedia production must include educational elements in order to satisfy the “inform” verb, we had to also include fun and satirical/humorous segments so as to appease the audience. Section B: Analysis + Research
Analysis
Time management
Our time management strategy, formulated on the 25th of August, was as follows:
- To hold a group meeting every Thursday and Friday during class project time
- To spend the first few weeks developing a credible and understandable storyboard, researching the content required for the technical sections, and writing scripts based on this research. These first weeks of project work were very turbulent in regard to exams and short-term projects which needed to be completed before October, thus extra time was provided after the holidays and our time-management was freed up somewhat.
- To film the sections which need to be filmed in the holidays and the two weeks after the holidays, amending the scripts as required.
- To complete the bibliography and evaluation sections in the second week after the holidays, ready for submission by the following Thursday.
We thus had to use the internet and mobile phones to communicate efficiently in order to manage our time
Access to resources
The main restriction on our project was that we had limited access to a video camera. Although the school had a video camera, it was in use by other groups who were also in need of a camcorder. This meant that all our filming time had to be reasonably well planned prior to camera use. Although King’s father gave us permission to use his video camera, the files it produced were in the .mp4 format and were thus difficult to edit and dub. Thankfully, Mr Platt gave us loan of the school camcorder for one weekend in which all of our filming had to take place. We planned this weekend originally to have all filming completed on Friday and perhaps Saturday, however the battery of the camera needed to be recharged so we had to revise our plan of resource usage in order to return the camera on time. Luckily, all went well, although Chen was missing for some of our filming due to the camera battery being flat while he was present.
Research
Our research for this project included a thorough study of many articles on Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) related to rocket propulsion, out of which information was used from the following pages:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_engines
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_jet
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbojet
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_laval_nozzle
The information obtained from these sites is present in the scripts in the next section under the sub-heading of “Theory”.
Section B: The design
The Plan
The planned overall design for our rocket-related multimedia task was as follows:
- A short introduction in flash which leads to a menu
- The menu is clear and easy-to-read, and the mouse-over animations for the menu show the user the nature of the content of the section in question
- Each section will consist of a short flash animation/film mosaic/original film/photo which will be related to the topic. The scripts for each section are shown below.
Scripting/Content
Intro
[music plays] [moon moves into view with stars in background, before moving to the side to bring the earth into visibility] Menu [rockets fire off earth and become menu items] [items: Theory { -principles and general concept -applications -issues -brief history -different propellents } Prac { -our design -construction -finished product -testing }]
Theory
Principles (use diagrams on piece of paper on wall) In a classical rocket engine, a fuel and oxidiser are used to combust and produce thermal energy which is directed to the throat of the rocket before being focussed and expelled through the nozzle. Also, if you do this, it looks like a face. High-speed rocket nozzles use expansion ratio techniques to convert most of this thermal energy into kinetic energy, which provides the thrust to accelerate the rocket to apogee. In fact, most of the rocket’s thrust is not delivered through the direct release of energy from the pressure chamber, but from the expanding gases pushing on the bell curve of the expansion nozzle, which accelerates the rocket engine in one direction and the gases in the other. The use of different kinds of expansion nozzle can convert subsonic movement of gas on the inside of the vessel to supersonic movement on the outside through the conversion of various kinds of energy into the only useful one in this situation: kinetic. Expansion factors of up to 10 times are not uncommon in properly used rocket nozzles.
Applications (film with audio dubbing and assorted images from Google) Rocket engines have a wide range of applications. One of these is jet engines, which come in two kinds. The first and most common design, a Turbojet was independently invented in the 1930’s by both Frank Whittle in Britain and Hans von Ohain in Germany. Since then, the turbojet has become the standard method of propulsion of nearly all aircraft, like the one shown in this video. You’re probably wondering a few things, like how do turbojets work, what makes them go, why are they so good and why is this question mark getting so big. The first three we shall answer. Turbojets consist of an axial shaft which has a compressor, a combustor and a turbine connected to it. At start-up, the turbine is spun by an electric motor or external air-jet, and this starts the compressor. When the compressor is started, the engine can autonomously continue combustion and provide thrust. This is depicted in this film clip. The second kind of jet, a pulse jet, uses the reverberation of exhaust gases to maintain combustion in the chamber [see diagram]. These must be specially tuned to keep continuous explosions in the chamber and to keep a consistent blast. Such a jet was used in the V1 rocket, used by the Germans in their attacks on London in the Second World War. It is not in wide use today, other than for crude, long-range cruise missiles. Of course, the most common use for rocket engines is (War by Edwin Starr) (War clips)
Issues (advantages and disadvantages) One of the most important advantages of rocket engines is that they operate in space. Unlike jet engines, which are based on rocket engines, normal rockets have their own oxidisers and therefore don’t need to operate in the atmosphere. On the downside, using onboard fuels for rockets also makes them notoriously dangerous, with many NASA astronauts being lost to “accidents” in which the rocket explodes. A major disadvantage is that rockets powered by hydrocarbons produce aerosols such as excessive carbon dioxide, which pollute the atmosphere and speed up the greenhouse effect. Luckily our rocket isn’t going to pollute the atmosphere, because it will be powered by air and water pressure.
Brief History (slideshow on computer, King (K) and Willem (W) Narrate) K: It is widely believed that the first rockets were developed in China. [zoom to where Chen should be] Hey where’s Chen?[focus on pedestal fan with face drawn on] That’s just a decoy! Sneaky Asian!
W:– “Haha, Chen doesn’t get any credit… Oh well King’s pretty Chinese
K: – Anyway… It’s believed that it started in the Han Dynasty, when the Chinese people experimented with gunpowder [flip picture] and fireworks [flip picture]. This led to the development of firearms [picture], and the development of solid rocket engines [picture].
W: The Mongolians [flip picture] subsequently stole this technology from the Chinese. When the Europeans conquered [flip picture] the Mongolians, they acquired the knowledge of rockets and gunpowder. Once the idea hit Europe, many inventors including the famous Konstantin Tsiolkovsky worked on the Chinese fundamentals to make more complex rockets.
K: [flip picture] In around 1930, Robert Goddard built and launched the first controlled liquid rocket engine. He is considered the father of modern rocketry. He wrote a book called “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes”, which took a serious look at shooting rockets into space.
W: [flip picture] In 1943, the Germans, after nearly half a century of cutting edge rocketry research, began production of the V-2 rocket, the biggest step forward in rocketry ever. It had an operational range of 300km and could carry a 1000kg warhead.
K: [picture]Rockets were also greatly and rapidly developed in the Cold War during the 1960’s. The Soviet Union and the United States competed in a space race in which the [picture] Americans won when they successfully launched Apollo 11 to the moon on 20th of July. [rocket with teddy bears attached crashes onto desk. Disorder.]
Different propellants (originally to be read by Chen, but Sam Henskens acted as understudy) (Willem and King throw things at Chen because he was in Brisbane last time) I am Dr. Chenkles and I’m going to tell you about rocket propulsion! There are many different types of rocket propellents for rockets. In our rocket, we are using a combination of compressed air and water with some additives to make it go further. Some common rocket propellents for amateur rockets include solid mixtures of oxidising and reducing agents, like potassium nitrate and sodium. For space rockets, often a substance called hydrazine is used, which is dinitrogentetrahydride. This is a good rocket fuel because it produces a large amount of energy when combusted and only produces the harmless bi-products of water and nitrogen.
Prac
Our design [Camera scrolls across the launcher and rocket, Willem explains the various components.]
Construction [Camera pans and zooms in on rocket and launcher, Willem describes briefly how it was built]
Finished product A photo of the rocket and launcher is shown.
Testing Long shot of King, Chen and Willem walking up towards the camera in the evening similar to Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Mike Collins in 1969 Space launch. Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra plays like in 2001 A Space Odyssey. Camera pans across the park and Willem describes the roles of Chen and King in launching and recording the heights of the rocket respectively. As rocket launches, the Eagle Rock begins and the sequence of launch films commences for several minutes with background music from The Rolling Stones, Daddy Cool and Beck. At the end of the clip is a short blooper followed by credits and the Rocket Power logo.
Section C: Implementation
The solution to our problem was implemented by means of a flash mini-film in which several short videos that we filmed with a digital camcorder were collated. This production includes various sections which are loosely based on the standard design process that has also been applied to the more formal section of our task: the documentation. This correlation can be seen in the tiered nature of the different headings in the menu, beginning with the research (“Theory”) section, followed by the “Design” and “Practical – Testing” sections.
Section D: Testing
Part A: The Rocket
The group engaged in a filmed set of test-launches (included in the “Testing” section), in which we fired the rocket a few times using different liquids etc and did a rough estimate of height using simple trigonometry. We walked out 100 metres from the launch pad, used a ruler to get a vague estimate of the angle of elevation, and used trigonometry to calculate a rough estimate of the height of apogee. These approximate heights were included in the “Testing” section of our multimedia film.
Part B: The Multimedia
In testing the multimedia project, since we were using Flash, we decided to take the “frenzied user” approach by clicking on every button possible individually to dissect any problems that may have arisen from doing so. After a number of iterations of the process of trial, observation and resolution, we managed to debug, for the most part, all of the problems associated with poor hyper-linking. We further tested out King’s “revolutionary” several-scened Flash system in which he can have an animated menu without losing functionality by attempting to play each and every film in the presentation through a different method. We first tried using the menu, then using the “replay” buttons at the end of each scene, then by using all the “replay” buttons and making sure they all linked back to the beginning to probe the integrity of the navigation system of the presentation. Having tested the functionality of the Flash introduction and menu thoroughly, all that was left was to test the effectiveness of the video on the audience. Given more time, we would have devised a survey grading different characteristics of the movie from one to five and giving sample members of the target audience an opportunity to evaluate our presentation. Although time restraints prevented this, we aim to do this in all of our future projects.
Section E: Progress Journal
- 2006-08-25
- The idea for our project was formulated and the “problem” to be solved through our multimedia project was the delivery of information to and entertainment of the audience through giving information about rockets and their uses as well as displaying flights of our own rocket and briefly describing the processes involved in its construction.
- The design of the solution was started by means of deciding vague idea of the allocation of work across group members as below:
- Animation – King with some help from other group members. To be completed in Macromedia Flash
- Video – Willem. To be done with Sony Vegas 7.0.
- Filming – King and Chen (since they were not in favour of on-screen appearances). We intended, however, to include all group members in the film at some stage of the project.
- Narration – Willem with help from Audacity (to a limited extent)
- Scripting – Willem and Chen
- Research – Willem with help from Chen
- Pictures – Taken/downloaded by all group members
- Music - Chen
- The storyboard was also drawn up, with navigation and basic layout of the intro (1.1 – 1.2), theory (2.1-2.5), prac (3.1-3.4) and the construction level is left undecided because we are not yet sure if time allowances will be too restricted to complete this stage.
- 2006-09-01
- Introduction was worked on by King in Macromedia flash, marking the beginning of the “Implementation” phase of development
- Willem worked on script for Applications and Issues, researching WikiPages in order to find information relevant to our task (available in the scripts above)
- 2006-09-10
- King worked on the introduction and button effects, as well as preparing hotlinks for the movies to fit in the template.
- Applications section was completed, although sound files were not uniform in amplitude or tonic quality. We considered recording a second track for this file at a later date, but came to no conclusion.
- 2006-10-08
- Issues, principles sections were filmed. Unfortunately, Chen was in Brisbane and could not participate this day. The Issues section was decided to be filmed
- Research was carried out using www.images.google.com to find pictures for our slideshow and the Brief History section was filmed with this slideshow of pictures on the computer screen
- 2006-10-19
- King worked on making roll-over effects for the introduction and the filming of the second half of the project for Friday/Saturday was planned
- 2006-10-20
- Bibliography was compiled
- Mr Platt had the .mp4 video files encoded to .avi, but sound quality was reduced by this process. This is a problem because we can’t find a program that will dub and edit .mp4 movie files. We are planning on using the school video camera for the second section so that we can edit.
- 2006-10-20
- We acquired the school’s digital video camera in order to record files to tape which can subsequently be ripped into .avi movie file format. This makes editing and cutting much easier.
- The whole group came together to film parts of the “Testing” section and we completed a great proportion of the video for this area. The battery for the camera went flat because it had been used earlier in the day and we had to put off further filming
- 2006-10-23
- Finished filming of all sections of the project. Unfortunately, Chen absent and King and Willem had to improvise.
- Movie files were copied from camera to computer and were collated ready to be edited and cut
- Problems were encountered a few times in which the pump for the rocket began to leak air and we had troubles launching, so we documented these experiences in our video. The testing filming was designed to be a fun part of the project in which the audience could enjoy music and rocket launches relaxedly, while still conveying the launch results effectively.
- 2006-10-26
- The “Testing” section was finalised and all the editing involved in making it entertaining was completed. The task of exporting the Vegas movie files in a compressed file format was carried out through the use of DrDivX movie encoder
- The Rocket Power logo was added to the end of all the films which includes the photos of each of the group members as a form of credits for each clip. The film clips were finally ready to be put into the overall multimedia presentation and to be tested.
- Mr Platt advised us that he required a more detailed Storyboard, so work began on producing it immediately.
- Testing and evaluation of the multimedia project itself was carried out in order to satisfy the final stage of the design process: Testing the solution
Section F: Overall Evaluation
Although the group has come to a collective decision that our project was a complete success in terms of completing the set task by the recommended date, the group did encounter a few problems along the way. Our time management did not always stick to the plan which we had set in our minds and written on paper, but was skewed by interferences such as holiday obligations, sporting activities, musical performance assessments and other demands on our time. We encountered problems in organising times to confer as a group, since at least one of us was nearly always busy and, consequently, Chen’s absence is evident in much of our film. He did, however, contribute markedly to the research and data collection for the group, and helped with animating, filming, testing and the collation of audio files, making him a valuable member of our team. We also came across the problem of the rocket not launching when we were testing it, which miraculously solved itself as is evident in the “Testing” sequence of our “Prac” section. The problem of obtaining a functional camcorder is also worth reiterating (see also the “Access to resources” section under “Analysis”), since we had a fairly difficult time dealing with the .mp4 files produced by King’s video camera. Luckily, in the end, Sony Vegas 7.0 (see Bibliography Part V) could handle these files and we could thus produce quite nice movie files through using this program. Our multimedia project was a great learning experience and helped us practice time management and organisation skills which will no doubt be useful in later life, and also produced a humorous and interesting flash production.
Special Features
- Very long runtime (extra value)
- A snappy menu made by King Tang
- Hilarious jokes about Chen Gao and, (King's contribution), his racial extraction
- Great music (cut in Audacity)
- Great film (cut in Sony Vegas
Pictures
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