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Maybe I am missing something but since when are PID controllers "restricted/secret?" I think I get what you mean, and I guess my question is: is that a falsely

Maybe I am missing something but since when are PID controllers "restricted/secret?" I think I get what you mean, and I guess my question is: is that a falsely held belief by amateurs or?

polishdude20 3y ago
If you paste a link to your full source code for a thrust vectoring rocket in the BPS Space discord, it'll get removed. And yeah a PID by itself is not restricted. They are more worried about that in combination with other circuitry and software that may be used maliciously. I think it's an over reaction
- K0balt 3y ago
  Llast time I checked guidance systems for model rockets fall into a regulatory space normally applied to guided missiles. You cannot legally make (sell/distribute?) a guided missile in the USA without the appropriate manufacturer’s licensing. The guidance system itself triggers this regulatory wall. Thrust vectoring for landing is fundamentally different in application, but it is still technically guiding a “missile” to a specific point of impact. People working on this as hobbyists are wise to make sure their projects are not seen as presenting an enforcement target, since they could easily be technically crossing the letter if not the intent of the regulations. Amateur rocketry exists in a little space between regulated “destructive devices” and unregulated “fireworks” and they try hard not to tempt regulators to further constrain their activities.
  - Shawnj2 3y ago
    It’s almost funny how little amateur rocketry is legally regulated, you can pretty much do anything you want to legally because practically people in charge of launch sites, etc. will not let you do dangerous shit, but for example without any certification you can buy 1 L1 motor at a time from HPR sites, with an L1 motor you can acquire 1 L2 motor at a time, and with an L2 you can acquire 1 L3 motor at a time so in effect an L2 will let you buy the highest power rocket motors as long as you do so one at a time. Of course no one will let you launch a rocket with 5 L3 motors as an L2 but in theory you could. Also yes code that lets you arbitrarily steer a rocket in any direction is software for a missile and goes under ITAR. I don’t think there’s anything that actually legally prevents you from doing it, but once you make something classified under ITAR it is now an ITAR product and there are limits to what you can publicly say about it, You can legally perform TVC +/- 5 degrees without it being under ITAR from what I’ve heard and a think publishing code for that would be fine, but in practice people probably don’t want to risk it and honestly it’s not that hard to implement yourself if you’re capable of building a TVC rocket anyways
localplume 3y ago
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nunuvit 3y ago
The regulation says "active controls", which is pretty broad. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/chapter-I/subchapter-M/part-121 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/chapter-I/subchapter-M...

Maybe I am missing something but since when are PID controllers "restricted/secret?" I think I get what you mean, and I guess my question is: is that a falsely held belief by amateurs or?

polishdude20 3y ago

If you paste a link to your full source code for a thrust vectoring rocket in the BPS Space discord, it'll get removed. And yeah a PID by itself is not restricted. They are more worried about that in combination with other circuitry and software that may be used maliciously. I think it's an over reaction

K0balt 3y ago
Llast time I checked guidance systems for model rockets fall into a regulatory space normally applied to guided missiles. You cannot legally make (sell/distribute?) a guided missile in the USA without the appropriate manufacturer’s licensing. The guidance system itself triggers this regulatory wall. Thrust vectoring for landing is fundamentally different in application, but it is still technically guiding a “missile” to a specific point of impact. People working on this as hobbyists are wise to make sure their projects are not seen as presenting an enforcement target, since they could easily be technically crossing the letter if not the intent of the regulations. Amateur rocketry exists in a little space between regulated “destructive devices” and unregulated “fireworks” and they try hard not to tempt regulators to further constrain their activities.
- Shawnj2 3y ago
  It’s almost funny how little amateur rocketry is legally regulated, you can pretty much do anything you want to legally because practically people in charge of launch sites, etc. will not let you do dangerous shit, but for example without any certification you can buy 1 L1 motor at a time from HPR sites, with an L1 motor you can acquire 1 L2 motor at a time, and with an L2 you can acquire 1 L3 motor at a time so in effect an L2 will let you buy the highest power rocket motors as long as you do so one at a time. Of course no one will let you launch a rocket with 5 L3 motors as an L2 but in theory you could. Also yes code that lets you arbitrarily steer a rocket in any direction is software for a missile and goes under ITAR. I don’t think there’s anything that actually legally prevents you from doing it, but once you make something classified under ITAR it is now an ITAR product and there are limits to what you can publicly say about it, You can legally perform TVC +/- 5 degrees without it being under ITAR from what I’ve heard and a think publishing code for that would be fine, but in practice people probably don’t want to risk it and honestly it’s not that hard to implement yourself if you’re capable of building a TVC rocket anyways

localplume 3y ago

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nunuvit 3y ago

The regulation says "active controls", which is pretty broad. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/chapter-I/subchapter-M/part-121 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/chapter-I/subchapter-M...