Presenter(s): Bdale Garbee URL: http://2010.linux.conf.au/programme/schedule/view_talk/50182 Amateur rocketry incorporates many different disciplines in one hobby, from mechanical design and aeronautical engineering to chemistry, electronics and software. The electronics and software become increasingly important as the rockets get larger, fly to greater altitudes, and carry more sophisticated payloads.A little over a year ago, Bdale Garbee and Keith Packard agreed to collaborate on a new, completely free hardware and software amateur rocket flight computer called TeleMetrum. This is a tiny embedded system with simple sensors, GPS receiver, a digital radio transceiver, and the ability to ignite small explosive charges used to deploy parachutes.This talk will explore the free software tools used to develop the hardware and firmware, including circuit design and PCB layout, C compiler and in-circuit debugger. The design and operation of the TeleMetrum hardware (licensed under the TAPR OHL) and AltOS software (licensed under the GPL) will be described, punctuated by photos, video, and data analysis from numerous flights of the completed system. http://lca2010.linux.org.au - http://www.linux.org.au CC BY-SA - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode.txt