BUTCube - Flight controller computer

BUTCube - Řídící počítač satelitu

functional specimen

required - free

Malaník Petr, Ing. (DITS FIT BUT)
Lazar Václav, Ing. (DA FME BUT)
Rydlo Štěpán, Ing. (DITS FIT BUT)
Láznička Tomáš, Ing. (FME BUT)
Bartoněk Jaroslav, Ing. (DA FME BUT)
Popela Robert, Ing., Ph.D. (FME BUT)

cube-sat, mission demonstrator, flight controller, satellite, 1U concept

The basic control board (Flight controller) of the satellite enabling flight/mission control and data acquisition and processing from other systems. The board contains a microcontroller, IMU unit, memories (application and system). It also allows connection of additional sensors and sensor expansion boards.

Through the main connector, the board unit to the satellite system, through which it is also powered and communicates with the main systems.  The sensor part of the solar modules can be connected to the secondary connectors on the side of the board, which can then give a rough overview of the satellite orientation or the temperature status of the system. Communication with the satellite's main systems is possible via a shared CAN bus, or, after negotiating a communication window, larger data volumes can be transferred via the RS-485 bus, for example between the communication board and the control computer. It is also possible to communicate with sun detection sensors, which can be used to determine the global position of the satellite in addition to GPS.

The IMU unit contains a magnetometer, accelerometer and gyroscope from which the orientation of the satellite can be determined. System memories, consisting of EEPROM, FRAM and MRAM, are used for sensor and sensor calibration data. These memories can also be used to accomplish a secondary mission that deals with the effect of radiation on different types of memories.

The application memory consists of two NAND flash memories with increased radiation resistance. These memory banks are capable of storing up to 2 Gb of data. This data can come, for example, from a camera connected to this control unit, which can also serve as a backup mission computer.

The product is physically located at the FSI - Institude of aerospace engineering. Production documentation and source code are available at the link below.

STRaDe Git:
https://strade.fit.vutbr.cz/git/imalanik/BUTCube/src/branch/FC/modules/FC

• png BUTCube_logo.png 21 KB
• jpg FC.jpg 2839 KB

BUTCube - small satellite technology demonstrator development (EF19_073/0016948)
Reliable, Secure, and Efficient Computer Systems (FIT-S-20-6427)

Security Technology Research and Development (VZ STRaDe)

Department of Intelligent Systems FIT BUT (DITS FIT BUT)
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering BUT (FME BUT)