Source: https://mokxi.com/teachers/plans/space-rocket Updated: 2026-11-11 Lesson plan # Model rocket flight computer lesson plan Bring up a barometer and an IMU, catch apogee, then fly a full state machine that logs to microSD. 2 chapters, 4 lessons, about 4 hours, on the Arduino Uno R3. Every lesson runs in the browser, with nothing to install. Start a class from this course The unit ## Objectives and materials ### By the end, students can - Turn pressure into height and acceleration into launch. - Find apogee, open the door, and log every sample. ### Materials for the whole unit - Accelerometer and gyroscope, MPU6050 - Arduino Uno R3 - Buzzer - Full-size breadboard - Hobby servo - LED x 3 - microSD card module - Pressure and temperature, BMP280 - Pushbutton x 2 - Resistor x 3 Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too. Chapter 1. About 1 h 40 min ## Sense the flight Turn pressure into height and acceleration into launch. Lesson | Time | What students do Altitude from air pressure Turn a BMP280 into an altimeter: read the pressure, zero the pad, climb with the slider and keep the highest point you reach. | 55 min - Say hello to the barometer - Zero the pad - Climb past 10 meters - Keep the peak - Come home Which way is up Read an MPU6050 register by register: 1 g at rest, a tilt lockout for the pad, and launch detected as three readings over 2.5 g. | 45 min - Wake the IMU - One g, standing still - Lock out a tilted rocket - Feel the launch ### Materials - Accelerometer and gyroscope, MPU6050 - Arduino Uno R3 - Buzzer - Full-size breadboard - Hobby servo - LED x 3 - microSD card module - Pressure and temperature, BMP280 - Pushbutton x 2 - Resistor x 3 ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "Which way is up" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 4 of its 4 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Feel the launch". Chapter 2. About 2 h 20 min ## Fly and recover Find apogee, open the door, and log every sample. Lesson | Time | What students do Catch the top of the flight Filter a noisy altitude, work out the climb rate, find apogee without being fooled, and let the parachute door go with a servo. | 65 min - Ready on the pad - Smooth the noise - Door locked - Launch - Over the top - Let the door go The flight computer Put it all together: a self-test, an armed state, a seven-state flight, beeps you can hear in a field and every sample logged to microSD. | 75 min - The pre-flight self-test - Pull the card - The tilt lockout - Arm it - Fly it - Land and save the log - A bench flight ### Materials - Accelerometer and gyroscope, MPU6050 - Arduino Uno R3 - Buzzer - Full-size breadboard - Hobby servo - LED x 3 - microSD card module - Pressure and temperature, BMP280 - Pushbutton x 2 - Resistor x 3 ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "The flight computer" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 7 of its 7 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "A bench flight". Your class ## Teach this unit as a class Start a class from this course and its 4 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you. The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way. Start a class from this course See the demo class More units ## Other lesson plans Electronics basics 20 lessons, about 10 h. Embedded on the Arduino Uno 16 lessons, about 12 h. Embedded on the ESP32-C3 13 lessons, about 11 h. Embedded on the Raspberry Pi Pico 7 lessons, about 6 h. Build your own fight stick 5 lessons, about 4 h. Embedded on the STM32F411 6 lessons, about 6 h. C++ on a board 13 lessons, about 10 h. Digital logic and memory 4 lessons, about 4 h. Interactive devices on the Uno 9 lessons, about 8 h. From gates to a computer 23 lessons, about 16 h. Build a claw machine 8 lessons, about 6 h. Every unit All the courses as ready-made units, on the teachers page.