Waterloo Rocketry OpenRocket

OpenRocket, and our code for running monte carlo simulations in OpenRocket.

Requirements

• Java 17

Running the Simulator

Download the latest release from the releases page

In the downloaded directory run java -jar WaterlooRocketry-OpenRocket-{version}-all.jar

Configuration

Create a file named config.toml in the same directory as the jar with the structure as follows:

[simulation]

[simulation.executor]
batch_size = 30

[simulation.options]
launch_latitude = 47.965378
launch_longitude = -81.873536
launch_altitude = 420.0144
launch_rod_length = 9.144
launch_into_wind = false
launch_rod_angle = 0.0872665
launch_rod_direction = 4.71239
max_simulation_time = 2400

The above is the default configuration if no configuration file is provided. All measurements are in SI units.

Development

Setup

Dependencies

• Java 17 (JDK 17, Required for OpenRocket)
• IntelliJ IDEA (Recommended for development)
• OpenRocket 24.12.RC.01 (Included as a submodule)

Start by cloning this repository:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/waterloo-rocketry/openrocket

(If you did not use --recurse-submodules, run git submodule update --init --recursive. See https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Submodules for details.)

IntelliJ

We will continue using IntelliJ IDEA IDE. Open the project. You do not need to install a JDK or Ant separately.

You will need to configure your project JDK in File > Project Structure > Project. We will use Java 17. Intellij should recognize and download this automatically.

Building

• ./gradlew openrocket:build: This builds OpenRocket. Run this first before running the plugin!
• ./gradlew runOpenRocket: This is used to run OpenRocket by itself.
• ./gradlew run: This is used to run the Monte-Carlo plugin
• ./gradlew buildExtensions: This will build all extensions in the extensions directory

To get debug logging from OpenRocket and the extension, add -Dlog-level='DEBUG' to the run command.

Release Process

Follow these steps to release a new version of the Monte-Carlo OR plugin:

1. Update the Version Number

Edit the build.gradle file to reflect the new version:

group 'com.waterloorocketry'
version 'X.Y.Z' // Format: Major.Minor.Hotfix

Example: Change version '1.0.0' to version '1.1.0' for a minor update.

2. Verify CI Build

Ensure the following CI workflow is successful on the main branch:

• CI – Build Monte-Carlo or-plugin

You can check this in your CI/CD platform (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins, etc.).

3. Trigger the Release

Initiate the release by running the following workflow on the main branch:

• Manual Release – Monte-Carlo or-plugin

This step will publish the current build based on the version specified in build.gradle.

AspectJ Development

The project uses AspectJ to inject code into OpenRocket classes at compile time. The purpose of this is to reduce coupling and copied code from OpenRocket as much as possible while also allowing modified reuse of existing OpenRocket components and logic.

Currently, this is used to add wind direction standard deviation to the wind model and GUIs.

To modify the aspects, edit the files in src/main/aspectj. As AspectJ relies heavily on the structure of the target classes, add comments to indicate what classes and methods are being targeted.