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arduino-rocket-altimeter-en.md

Pinnacle Measurement: The Rocket Altimeter

When launching Estes or custom model rockets, visual estimation is highly inaccurate. The Arduino Rocket Altimeter is a miniature payload that uses atmospheric pressure to calculate its exact peak altitude and saves it to a memory chip.

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The Barometric Formula

The air gets thinner the higher you go. The BMP280 or BME280 sensor can detect pressure changes down to a few pascals (equivalent to moving the sensor up by just 10 centimeters!).

  1. Ground Zero: Before launch, the Arduino reads the ground pressure and sets it as Altitude = 0.
  2. The Climb: During launch, pressure drops. The Arduino uses the Adafruit_BMP280 library to convert the pressure drop into exactly how many meters the rocket has climbed.
  3. The Apogee: The code constantly compares the current altitude against the max_altitude variable. If current > max, it updates the value.

Storing the Data

Because space is tight in a rocket tube, adding an SD card shield might be too heavy. Instead, this project uses the Arduino's internal EEPROM memory. Once the rocket lands, a piezo buzzer "beeps" the maximum altitude (e.g., 2 beeps, pause, 5 beeps = 250 meters), or you plug it into a laptop via USB to read the EEPROM memory directly!

Hardware Requirements

  • Arduino Pro Mini 3.3V / ATtiny85: Size and weight are critical.
  • BMP280 Barometric Pressure Sensor.
  • Small LiPo Battery (e.g., 150mAh).

ข้อมูล Frontmatter ดั้งเดิม 

title: "Arduino Rocket Altimeter"
description: "How high did it go? Build a tiny, featherweight altimeter using a BMP280 barometer to record the peak altitude of your model rockets."
category: "Science & Simulation"
difficulty: "Intermediate"