Satellites are evolving around the globe, expanding our possibility to explore space and many other applications. This thesis project is a model satellite used for teaching purposes in the course IE120V Electronics and Programming for Space Applications provided at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The model can be used to teach Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in high school. The satellite is inspired by the MIniature Student saTellite (MIST) project carried out by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and hence this project will be called ”MiniMIST.” The MiniMIST aims to perform functions carried out on practical satellites. The onboard computer performs real-time image capturing, reads temperature from the surroundings, and analyzes power from solar panels and the power supply (batteries). The ground station setup is used to communicate with the satellite (MiniMIST) and receive data to be viewed and analyzed. The ESP32-Wrover was used as the main computer to run the MiniMIST. It was programmed with MicroPython and C++. Client-server communication using HTTP protocol emulated the communication between the ground station and MiniMIST with Web-Server communication. The ground station is a web page programmed using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript along with the AJAX framework. The thesis aims to build a working prototype of MiniMIST by dividing it into three sections: Hardware design, onboard computer software, and ground station software. / Satelliter utvecklas runt om i världen, vilket utökar vår möjlighet att utforska rymden och många andra applikationer. Detta examensarbete är en modellsatellit som används för undervisningsändamål i kursen IE120V Elektronik och programmering för rymdtillämpningar som ges vid Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan. Modellen kan användas för att lära ut naturvetenskap, teknik, ingenjörskap och matematik (STEM) på gymnasiet. Satelliten är inspirerad av projektet MIniature Student saTellite (MIST) som genomförts av Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, och därför kommer detta projekt att kallas ”MiniMIST”. MiniMIST syftar till att utföra funktioner som utförs på praktiska satelliter. Datorn ombord utför bildtagning i realtid, läser av temperatur från omgivningen och analyserar ström från solpaneler och strömförsörjningen (batterier). Markstationsinställningen används för att kommunicera med satelliten (MiniMIST) och ta emot data som ska ses och analyseras. ESP32-Wrover användes som huvuddator för att köra MiniMIST. Den programmerades med MicroPython och C++. Klient-serverkommunikation med hjälp av HTTP-protokoll emulerade kommunikationen mellan markstationen och MiniMIST med webbserverkommunikation. Markstationen är en webbsida programmerad med HTML, CSS och JavaScript tillsammans med AJAX-ramverket. Avhandlingen syftar till att bygga en fungerande prototyp av MiniMIST genom att dela upp den i tre sektioner: Hårdvarudesign, inbyggd datormjukvara och markstationsmjukvara.

Sedan höstterminen 2018 står det inskrivet i läroplanen att programmering ska finnas som en del i teknik- och matematikundervisningen i grundskolan. Trots det så var få lärare förberedda på ändringen vilket gjort det svårt för lärarna att fullfölja kraven i läroplanerna.  Då det krävs kompetens hos lärarna inom programmering för att kunna fullfölja skolverkets kursplaner och att få lärare hade fått den kompetensen innan höstterminen 2018 har det under denna studies gång tagits fram en prototyp av ett verktyg som är avsett att underlätta undervisningen av programmering för högstadieelever. Tanken med verktyget är att det ska användas för att programmera BBC micro:bit med microPython. BBC micro:bit är en mikrodator som används i undervisningen i bland annat Kronobergs län där det även pågår ett projekt vid namn Make it happen för att stärka den digitala kompetensen. Resultatet indikerar att ett molnbaserat verktyg som innehåller både en utvecklingsmiljö och dokumentation på svenska möjligen kan underlätta undervisningen. Dock behövs verktyget utvecklas mera, lägga till mer funktionalitet och information samt göra fler tester för att undersöka användbarheten. / As of 2018 the Swedish Government has decided that there should be programming in elementary school. The programming should take place in the subjects of mathematics and technics There weren’t a lot of prepared teachers when the law took effect which has made it difficult for the teachers to follow it. In this project I have made a prototype to try to increase the competence in programming for the teachers. Since there is another project in Kronobergs län, Make it happen, that focuses on the use of BBC micro:bit in school I chose to make the prototype for BBC micro:bit and microPython programming to keep in line with that project. The results indicate that a cloud-based tool that contains both an editor and a Swedish documentation might ease the teaching in elementary schools. For more reliable results however I would need to keep developing the prototype to give it more functionalities and a better documentation that contains more information about microPython. There is also need for more user-testing on the targeted group to make the instrument more reliable.

Introduction: This paper presented an analysis of the energy consumption and responsiveness of MicroPython in an embedded system. The purpose of this study was to understand the energy consumption and response time of a MicroPython based system to optimize its overall performance and efficiency. Two research questions had been formulated to concretize the purpose of this thesis: [RQ1] How does the energy consumption of a MicroPython based embedded system compare to that of a C-based embedded system for tasks utilizing low power modes? [RQ2] What is the wake-up response time of MicroPython for low power modes when receiving external and internal interrupts, and how does it compare to an established language like C on an embedded system? Method: To answer the research questions and achieve the purpose, an experimental study was conducted. The energy consumption of the MicroPython based system was analyzed under different scenarios. The time it took for MicroPython to respond to an interrupt request from a sleeping state was also measured. The data collected from the experiment was analyzed to determine the level of energy consumption and responsiveness of MicroPython in an embedded system. Results: The results indicated that C was generally more energy efficient and responsive than MicroPython for tasks utilizing low power modes for the Deepsleep mode. Although MicroPython proved to have shorter response times for the Lightsleep low power mode. For energy consumption, C was more stable in the measurements while MicroPython reached both lower minimum currents and higher maximum currents. Conclusions: In conclusion, this study found that while MicroPython could achieve lower power levels than C in both low power modes tested, it reached higher current levels upon waking up. Despite this, MicroPython could still be a choice for applications that spend longer durations in low power modes, as this could offset the increased current spikes during wake-up. Response times for MicroPython were faster than C in the Lightsleep internal interrupt case, but MicroPython exhibited significantly longer response times in the Deepsleep mode due to the system resetting and restarting the interpreter. Keywords: Embedded systems, Energy consumption, Interrupt requests, Low power modes, MicroPython, Responsiveness.

This thesis describes creation of dynamically evolvable node, which will cooperate with other nodes. Group of these nodes will then create a distributed control system. The MQTT protocol is used for communications purposes between individual nodes. As hardware platform is used ESP32 and ESP8266. Whole operating system is written in MicroPython and supports a live uploading of user applications written in the same language. Later in thesis is decribed creation of monitoring node on Raspberry Pi, which control network. Complete system can be then used to control a intelligent house.

There has been a sharp increase in the market for electric propulsion systems for small satellites in the recent years. Electric propulsion systems have become smaller, more efficient and cheaper, which made them ideal for small satellites because they have a low thrust requirement and benefit significantly from the high specific impulse (Isp) that is characteristic to electric thrusters. These thrusters are generally fabricated and tested manually and there is a low degree of automation in the process. As the demand for the thrusters increases, there is a need to improve the speed of the fabrication and testing process. The Test Platform for Electronics Modules in Electric Thrusters (TESPEMET) project at ThrustMe is an attempt to design a system that addresses this issue. The vision is to have a test platform that facilitates the testing of ThrustMe's Electric Thrusters by applying various source and load conditions, emulating events while performing instrumentation during the test process and generating a test report at the end of the test procedure. The development of such a test platform would enable and accelerate the test and qualification process of the thrusters significantly. This thesis presents the technical design of this test platform along with the results obtained, encountered problems and solutions. Future work and design changes have also been proposed based on the knowledge gained during the Research and Development process.