June 2025 — Delivered key features across flight data logging, Bluetooth telemetry, EKF state estimation with barometric correction, telemetry encoding enhancements, Monte Carlo HITL data integration, and flight stage management with data archival. These improvements increase data reliability, state estimation accuracy, and testing fidelity, enabling safer flight operations, richer analytics, and faster validation of flight software.

May 2025 monthly summary for Terrapin-Rocket-Team/Airbrake: Delivered core sensor integration, flight-control refactor, and simulation fidelity improvements with a focus on data-driven accuracy and maintainability. Implemented code hygiene to prevent Python artifact commits, added VN-100 sensor interface, refactored airbrake control loop with better sensor data fusion and apogee prediction, refined CdA and drag calculations with a new module, and introduced a BlueRaven mock sensor with enhanced supersonic state estimation for hardware-free testing. These changes reduce risk in production, accelerate iteration cycles, and improve trajectory accuracy and testing coverage. Technologies demonstrated include Python-based modeling, C++ adjustments, sensor interfaces, and simulation engineering.

April 2025: Delivered meaningful business value by removing dependency on VectorNav VN-100, simplifying the Airbrake hardware interface and updating CdA estimation to be VN-100 independent. This reduces maintenance overhead and accelerates future sensor integrations. Launched Flight Data Analysis Tooling including CAD archival, a Python-based flap-force calculation script, and HITL data logging, with plotting enhancements to visualize Airbrake data and refined apogee calculations. These efforts improved data quality, traceability, and readiness for production, enabling faster debugging and more reliable performance assessments across hardware-software boundaries. Technologies demonstrated include Python scripting, data visualization, HITL workflows, CAD asset management, and codebase cleanup.

March 2025 monthly summary for Terrapin-Rocket-Team/Airbrake: Delivered stability improvements, extended flight envelope, and advanced testability enabling safer, data-informed operations. Key features and fixes accelerated readiness for demonstrations and continued development across HITL, MDRA launch code, and simulation/data workflows, with a measurable boost to reliability and development velocity.

February 2025 highlights robust enhancements to Airbrake's flight-control stack. Delivered state estimation improvements, improved sensing validation, and build readiness for MMFS v3.0. These updates stabilize altitude estimates, tighten control loops, improve telemetry, and position the project for scalable deployment.

January 2025 performance summary for Terrapin-Rocket-Team/Airbrake. Delivered two major feature updates enhancing telemetry, safety, and control of the Airbrake system. Key outcomes include richer sensor data logging with Blue Raven integration, improved startup safety with motor-off policy and encoder-based control, and robust encoder telemetry. These changes enable more reliable operation, better diagnostics, and a foundation for advanced automation.

December 2024 monthly performance: Core focus on increasing flight readiness through Airbrake enhancements, sensor fusion improvements, startup reliability, and manufacturing readiness. Key features delivered include: - Airbrake Sensor Integration and State Machine Expansion: add support for IMU and GPS sensors, VN-100 integration, and expanded flight stages. - Airbrake Control Robustness and Safety: safer defaults, input validation, new DEPLOY stage, and initialization safeguards. - System Startup Reliability and Feedback: SD/PSRAM integrity checks, audible feedback, and clearer sensor naming with buzzer usage. - State Estimation and Kalman Filter Enhancements: multi-sensor EKF, refactored EKF, NEES analysis, and new EKF class. - PCB Design and Manufacturing Outputs: KiCad 1.2 upgrade and generation of fabrication outputs (Gerber). Major bugs fixed: - Code Cleanup and Compilation Stability: removed unused libraries, streamlined constants to resolve compilation issues and improve build stability. Overall impact and accomplishments: - Increased flight safety and reliability through richer sensor fusion and safer airbrake control. - Accelerated hardware readiness for production via robust startup diagnostics and clear manufacturing outputs. - Enabled faster iteration cycles with improved maintainability and documentation. Technologies/skills demonstrated: - Embedded C++ development, sensor fusion and Kalman filtering (EKF, NEES analysis). - VN-100 integration, IMU/GPS handling, and multi-sensor data fusion. - System boot diagnostics, SD/PSRAM checks, and audible feedback. - KiCad PCB design versioning and fabrication output generation (Gerber).

November 2024 performance summary for Terrapin-Rocket-Team Airbrake: Delivered core encoder integration and comprehensive sensor overhaul to improve reliability, telemetry fidelity, and maintainability. Key outcomes include encoder interface initialization and integration into the Airbrake main loop with PSRAM and motor pin setup; major sensor suite overhaul removing VN_100, updating encoder configuration, and adding DPS310 and MS5611 barometers, with updated dependencies and sensor counts. These changes stabilized the data path, enhanced measurement accuracy, and lay the groundwork for future sensor fusion efforts.

October 2024 focused on delivering robust state estimation and enhanced analytical visuals for Airbrake, enabling more reliable operation planning and data-driven decision making.