Simplifying Customer Software Integration Tim Myers April 9 th, 2011 Colorado Undergraduate Space Research Symposium Payload Configuration GUI

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 2 Introduction to ALL-STAR  ALL-STAR is a low-cost 3U Cubesat bus capable of supporting the 1 year on- orbit operation of a variety of space-based research payloads that can be configured and ready for flight in 6 months through a simplified payload hardware and software interface.

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 3 ALL-STAR Purpose  Create a reproducible modular bus  Standard ALL-STAR interface and integration  Conform to the standard CubeSat structure  Capable enough to be used for variety of small payloads  Bus to be built within six months of request  After initial delivery in November of 2011  Cost between $150,000 and $100,000

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 4 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 4 Flight Software System Overview  Major Responsibilities  Monitor State of ALL-STAR  Communicate with each Subsystem and the Payload  Control the Mode of the Satellite  Store Data and Settings

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 5 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 5 Design Features  Flight Software subsystem controls the satellite bus and payload  Modular and flexible design allows for easy addition of functionality  Hardware independent implementation  A simplified GUI interface allows the payload to efficiently integrate their software with ours

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 6 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 6 Core Architecture Design

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 7 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 7 Payload Control Server CORE Flight software (on CDH hardware) Payload’s Software Interface Payload software (on Payload hardware) ?????????????????

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 8 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 8 Payload Control Server  Two predefined systems  ALL-STAR Bus (Flight software) Known prior to new contract  Payload Hardware (Payload software) Unknown until new contract, at earliest  Need to interface the two systems  Communication  Control  Etc.

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 9 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 9 Payload Control Server  Interfaced through the implementation of a server  Payload Control Server  Message handlers  Define requests that payload will handle  Setup interconnects  Analog sensors  Digital indicator lines  Implement a control loop  Concept of operations

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 10 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 10 Payload Control Server  How can we ensure that this server may be capable of controlling any and all unknown payloads?  Provide all of the tools necessary  Core architecture is flexible  Provides utilities for communication, data handling, etc.  Structure provided for implementing common pieces such as message handlers

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 11 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 11 Payload Control Server  Even with the capability, there are other challenges:  Short six-month required integration period Writing code can be a long, tedious, and bug-prone process  We are a student team Personnel changes – new team members will have no initial knowledge of the core architecture

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 12 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 12 Payload Configuration GUI  Created to allow for simple integration of payload software with core software  Abstracts the user away from details of core architecture  Helps to make configuration of payload control server a fast and bug-free process

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 13 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 13 Payload Configuration GUI

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 14 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 14 Payload Configuration GUI

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 15 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 15

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 16 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 16

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 17 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 17

Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL-STAR 18 Colorado Space Grant Consortium ALL STAR 18 Conclusion  Creating a system that can integrate payload software efficiently presents problems  Core architecture provides the ability to do so  Payload GUI makes it feasible to do so quickly, easily, and with minimal knowledge of the FSW system