The Lower Atmosphere/Ionosphere Coupling Experiment (LAICE) CubeSat mission includes the payload instruments that generate scientific data by interacting with the flight computer. The LAICE Instrument Interface Board (LIIB) is designed to interface with the payload instruments and the flight computer for efficient operation of the LAICE. The uplink command packet contains commands for regulating power supply to the payload instruments and for interfacing the peripheral, called the thermal knife, with the science instruments. The LIIB is responsible for interpreting these commands in order to execute the associated functions. The architecture of the LIIB is designed such that it not only takes into account all the requirements of the systems and instruments on the LAICE, but also ensures smooth flight data analysis at the ground station end. The approach taken to build the design makes the entire process intuitive and easier to debug. This thesis describes the design and development of the LIIB firmware, to ensure proper functioning of the LAICE. The firmware design is presented first, by initially defining the architecture based on the system requirements and progressing eventually to its development at the system level. End-to-end testing with the payload instruments and thermal knife setup verifies the operation of the LAICE LIIB firmware and electronics, thus qualifying the instrument for deployment within the LAICE. / Master of Science / The Lower Atmosphere/Ionosphere Coupling Experiment (LAICE) is a satellite that computes and exchanges science data between the flight computer and the three payload instruments. The LAICE Instrument Interface Board (LIIB) is designed to interface the flight computer and the payload instruments, and regulate the communication between them. Additionally, the LIIB is responsible for controlling the external hardware that interacts with the payload instruments. The thesis includes the design and development of the LIIB firmware in order to perform diverse functions such as controlling the instrument communication with the flight computer, regulating the power supply to the instrument boards, interfacing with the external hardware, referred to as the thermal knife, and integrating the various modules that perform these functions in order to meet the system requirements of the LAICE.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/78242 |
| Date | 22 June 2017 |
| Creators | Arora, Samiksha |
| Contributors | Electrical and Computer Engineering, Earle, Gregory D., Bailey, Scott M., Athanas, Peter M. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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