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Comment by hermitcrab | Hacker News Reader

There are plenty of model rocketry competitions. For example to take an egg to a specific height and land it again by parachute in a specific time (unbroken). My son competed in the UKROC competition with friends: https://www.ukroc.com/

Building a rocket with guidance would be pretty cool. But would probably get you on a government watch list!

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A miniature heat seeking rocket might be possible, like an early Sidewinder. Use it to shoot down model jet aircraft.

That would definitely be a fun project. I guess you would connect the sensor to a small processor which would drive steerable fins. Not sure RC aircraft give out much heat for a sensor to track though.

If necessary, use a cooperative target with an IR emitter.

It might be easier to ditch the Sidewinder-like custom IR sensor for a stock camera, and make up for this in software instead.

At the same time, I'm not sure if working on cheap guidance systems is the best idea at the moment - it could be used by Russias and North Koreas out there.

-Do bear in mind both Russia and DPRK has vast funds available for R&D; I'd be much more concerned about some three-letter agency knocking on your door, asking pointed questions about your innocent guided-missile pastime...

Looking how Russia still can’t make their own drones and needs to buy them from China and Iran - nah. They lost most of the potential inherited from USSR.

As for TLA - what’s wrong with asking questions? Especially when they might also provide you with a free legal advice wrt ITAR ;)

I accidentally and unintentionally violated ITAR a couple of decades ago. Free legal advice aside, it was hardly fun (not until afterwards...)

I definitely prefer not to end up on any government watchlists! I do worry a bit about my son's online searches. He is really into rocketry, not terrorism, but I wouldn't want to rely on the government to know the difference.

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