I recently joined the Yellow Jacket Space Program (YJSP) — Georgia Tech’s student-run rocketry organization working toward launching a liquid-fueled sounding rocket past the Kármán Line.
What is YJSP Avionics?#
The Avionics team is responsible for all electronics hardware and software aboard YJSP’s vehicles. The team designs, implements, and tests a stack of custom PCBs including the Flight Computer, Engine Controller, Data Acquisition, Flight Sensors, RF telemetry, and Battery Management System. Beyond flight-critical systems, Avionics also plays a key role in integration and testing of the vehicle and its subsystems.
Altium Designer serves as the backbone for all hardware design — the same tool the team has relied on for years to design the PCBs that track flight data, control propulsion, and deploy recovery systems.
Onboarding#
The onboarding process started with getting access to the YJSP Altium workspace and completing a Rapid Test Board (RTB) design. This was my first time using Altium, though I had prior PCB design experience on other platforms. The board turned out well — both the schematic and layout passed review, and I received positive feedback from my onboarding lead, Pratham Ingale.
Next step: a presentation on the RTB design, scheduled for late April.
Hardware in the Loop (HITL)#
After passing onboarding, I joined the HITL subteam under Responsible Engineer Peijie Liu. Hardware-in-the-Loop testing is critical for verifying that avionics hardware and software behave correctly before they ever fly — simulating real flight conditions while the physical boards are connected in the loop.
My current work involves hands-on PCB design tasks in Altium — migrating component libraries, building custom footprints, and iterating on board layouts for the HITL test infrastructure. The day-to-day has been a deep dive into relay selection, valve driver circuits, connector footprint debugging, and all the gritty details that make a test system reliable.
Looking forward to contributing more as the team pushes toward its next milestone.
