Rocket launchers, first deliverables

From now on, our 'labs' will be characterizing the rocket launchers and figuring out how to predict their motion. Each lab session, you'll get your launcher and tell us what sensors or equipment you might need for that session. We will not have written procedures or detailed lists of tasks, just a final goal and a set of deliverables each week.

For example, next week (by Friday), your primary deliverable is to have figured out the muzzle velocity of the launcher as well as some estimate of its uncertainty. A secondary deliverable is to sketch out how you will proceed during the following week. How you choose to proceed is up to you, I will only give advice as to whether your plans are reasonable or not, and how you might alter them if they are not reasonable.

Your deliverables will take the form of a short memo (2 pages maximum), one per group, due by the end of the day Friday March 7. Any reasonable format is accepted (hard or soft copy). This memo should contain, at least, the following key points:

• What is the launch velocity, with an estimate of its uncertainty. Does it depend on which rocket and which turret you use?
• How did you determine the velocity, in brief? (E.g., what sensor did you use.) Define your measure of uncertainty, or how you quantified uncertainty.
• What are the appropriate equations of motion for your projectile, including drag? That is, what does the force depend on? (You do not need to solve the equations yet, just figure out what they are.) 
• At launch time, you will have the ability to measure the target coordinates. Besides that and the muzzle velocity, what else do you need to know to set up your launch to hit a target?
• What quantities can be determined experimentally ahead of time, and which will only be known once you know the target coordinates?
• What are your potential sources of uncertainty, and how could you characterize them? A detailed plan is not necessary, just an idea.

As the week progresses, we'll discuss the finer points of your memos. All you really need is a measure of the velocity, and a rough idea of what things you're going to need to figure out over the next weeks.