Marc D NICHITIUNICHIȚIU
On this page and the following pages we described the workings of MIT Rocket Team's in-house OpenRocket-based simulator. Concretely, we present
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Please contact nichitiu@mit.edu for questions.
OpenRocket Overview
OpenRocket is an open-source Java-based 6-DOF (Degrees of Freedom) simulator for amateur rocketry purposes. Their source code can be accessed here.
OpenRocket makes heavy use of Object-Oriented Programming techniques in order to model a rocket. Each part of the physical rocket is modeled as a RocketComponent, of which there are ExternalComponents such as FinSets and NoseCones, as well as InternalComponents such as Bulkheads and TubeCouplers. Each component class has several associated classes whose names must follow a pattern:
MyComponent - the base class.
MyComponentCalc - the Aerodynamic calculator class, using Barrowman approximations, if the component isAerodynamic.
MyComponentConfig - the GUI class that creates the configuration panel for the component.
MyComponentShapes - the GUI class that describes the shapes to draw of the component.
MyComponentSaver - the file saving code for that component.
There are additionally several places in the code that refer to the component:
ComponentAddButtons (package info.openrocket.swing.gui.main) - manages the buttons for the