Near Space Engineering

The NASA Ames Research Center is responsible for various cube satellites, suborbital experiments, and high altitude balloons. The goal of this project is to design a new revision of a circuit board that both enables a modem to connect to the internet and supports auxiliary equipment for NASA’s activities.

Background
Continuing the University of Idaho's partnership with NASA, the aim of this project is to develop an advanced, general purpose, telemetry system for future space and high altitude balloon flights. The novel Iridium 9523 modem would enable a vast array of new research opportunities.

Deliverables
Design and program a PC104 telemetry board driven by an Intel Edison. The board would at minimum support an Iridium 9523 data modem, a camera, and have enough general purpose output to drive other miscellaneous equipment such as a cold gas system.

Specifications
The following table contains the specifications for both the new revision being developed and the old revision.

Dip Trace Software
Dip Trace is used to design a printed circuit board (PCB) layout. A PCB electrically connects all the necessary components in a compact space.

Intel Edison
The Intel Edison is the processor that will be used for this project. It contains a high-performance, dual-core CPU and a single-core microcontroller that supports complex data collection in a low-power package.

Voltage Regulator
Two of the same voltage regulator components will be used to obtain the 3.3V and 5V rails. The integrated circuit, developed by ROHM Semiconductor (P/N BD86120EFJ), can take inputs between 4.5V and 18V to output a new voltage at a value lower than the input.

Document Archive
[[Media:2015_NearSpaceEngineering_ClientInterview1.PDF]]