ATOM — Flight Computer

Model rocketry flight computer with thermal tracking, active fin stabilization, and telemetry.

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Overview

ATOM is an ESP32-based flight computer designed for model rockets. The thermal tracking module uses an MLX90640 infrared camera to detect and lock onto a heat source, then drives four servo-controlled fins to actively stabilize the rocket's trajectory.

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Hardware

Component	Details
Microcontroller	ESP32
Thermal Camera	MLX90640 (32×24, up to 16 Hz)
Fins	4× Servo motors (N/E/S/W)
Power	External supply for servos

Wiring:

MLX90640	ESP32
VIN	3.3V
GND	GND
SDA	GPIO 21
SCL	GPIO 22

Servo	GPIO
North	25
East	26
South	27
West	32

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Repository Structure

ATOM-Flight-Computer/
├── ATOM/               # Main thermal tracking firmware
├── ESP1/               # ESP1 module code
├── ESP2/               # ESP2 module code
├── Fins/               # Fin servo control
├── Integrate_test/     # Integration tests
├── MLX90640_Test/      # Thermal camera tests
└── NorthFinDebug/      # North fin debug sketch

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How It Works

1. The MLX90640 captures a 32×24 thermal frame at 16 Hz.
2. The hottest pixel above the temperature threshold (30°C) is identified as the target.
3. Smoothed X/Y coordinates are computed to reduce jitter.
4. Servo positions for all four fins are calculated from the tracking error relative to frame center.
5. If the target stops moving for more than 1.5 seconds, fins return to center.

Key parameters:

Parameter	Value
Refresh rate	16 Hz
Temp threshold	30.0 °C
Smoothing factor	0.05
Tracking gain	2.5
Target timeout	1500 ms

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Dependencies

• Adafruit MLX90640 Library
• ESP32Servo
• Arduino Wire library

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Getting Started

1. Install dependencies via the Arduino Library Manager.
2. Open the sketch in ATOM/.
3. Select ESP32 as your board.
4. Flash and open Serial Monitor at 115200 baud.

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Contact

Tisha Patel

• GitHub: @tishap27
• Email: [email protected]