Hi Dave, At 08:03 PM 6/7/00 -0700, David VanHorn wrote: >You can get some real suprises. Also note that unless it's a metal cased >transistor, it's also sensitive to light coming into the base, and every >other angle. It's best at the front, but the other parts work too. Yes, I realize that. I am not planning on firing much off boresight (at least at first), but I will keep it in mind. >Be prepared for some fun, what you're doing is very much like the >sidewinder missile control system. They used a segmented spun mirror to >chop the target IR, different rates for each band of mirrors. Apparently >there was some degree of vane movement dependent on the frequency. Pilots >later tapped into this signal to give them an indication that the >sidewinder could see the target before launching, which improved the >results significantly. HAHAHAHAHAHA, I was wondering how the real missiles did it (I figured it couldn't be TOO sophistocated considering the AIM-9 was introduced in the early 50's). I got the idea of light barriers from a web page of an EE school project, in which the students built a rocket to seek the sun. They used LDRs and light barriers. It would be REALLY neat to use a lens and a PSD, but I think that would be expensive, and perhaps not sensitive enough. I have also dropped the idea of a gimballed seeker or lead pursuit, both because of complexity, and the fact that it is tracking a stationary target :-) I had always wondered what the origin of the "growl" was. It is kinda neat that the missile says "lemme at 'em!" by an audible indication. > >You know how the sidewinder got it's name, right? I have fired many a sidewinder in simulation, but I can only guess that it got its name from the similarity of its flight path to the sidewinding motion of certain snakes. Is that right, or is there more to it? It is truly amazing what you end up discussing on the PICLIST For those just joining the thread, I think I should add the standard disclaimer: no, the PICLIST has not just turned into a terrorist think-tank! This is just a project to build a small model rocket which can guide itself to a balloon-suspended target. No explosives involved. Sean > > > >- -- >Are you an ISP? Tired of spam? >www.spamwhack.com A pre-emptive strike against spam! > >Where's Dave? http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?kc6ete-9 > >-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- >Version: PGPfreeware 6.5.2 for non-commercial use > >iQA/AwUBOT8M+4FlGDz1l6VWEQLsCgCgxuTDdwO2lvyAbLiXixRwKM3mDWAAoKza >k9gRkNHuA7cWfOJFXnue3taR >=UZsl >-----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > | | Sean Breheny | Amateur Radio Callsign: KA3YXM | Electrical Engineering Student \--------------=---------------- Save lives, please look at http://www.all.org Personal page: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/shb7 mailto:shb7@cornell.edu ICQ #: 3329174 _____________________________________________ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Click here for FREE Internet Access and Email http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html