I don’t have a picture yet- as I am behind on building it- but a friend and I are having a competition- build it first and not fry your robot. The way i was going to launch it was by having a servo with a small platform on it clipped to the positive end of the launcher, the negative end of the launcher clipped to the igniter, and a wire coming from the other end of the igniter attached to a rod, which when the servo turns would complete the circuit, thus launching the rocket.
However, do you think it is possible to build a model where the robot doesn’t get burnt by the engine using only a starter kit?
My friends is done, i’ll post a pic when I can… So yes I lost already, but i want to do it for fun 
if you only have a starter kit. why not pick up some sheet metal from lowes you can cut and drill it to your specs if applied right it makes a perfect perfect heat shield. not to mention sheet metal is really usefull for other builds too.
Hmm, you reminded me that I could use the launch pad that came with the kit…
Im the only person in to engineering in my family, so we don’t have many tools other than your simple screw drivers, however my friend might let me go to his house for his power tools and dremel
What reese said should work, however make sure you don’t put anything under the sheet metal that you don’t want burnt, there is the potential for the rocket to put a hole in the metal.
Heh, that was our inspiration for this contest.
thing is they’re just launching engines out of a tube- we’re launching actual rockets. It’s a lot safer.
We did this to build our own launchpad for a rocket in school. Aluminum doesn’t work nor does anything else with a low melting point. the rocket will just burn straight through and leave a charred hole. I’d recommend tempered steel. as for shaping it, a 3 dollar hacksaw from Wal-Mart and a drill will do.
get some very thick sheets of metal for a shield and make sure you keep the vital parts of the robot away from the end that you ignite. Also, instead of using a servo, you could wire the igniter to a motor port…just remember to using all 3 plug in parts of the port, or when you turn the micro controller on, it’ll blast of unexpectedly.
P.S. Buy some tools!
The controller port should work. I’ve launched one with a 9-volt battery before, and I think that the actual igniter that came with the kit only had .5 volts going through it when we tested it.