[Ground-station] Satellite program

[Zach Metzinger]

On Mon, May 28, 2018 at 11:23:00AM -0700, Bruce Perens wrote:
> Please take a look at the Vorago VA10820. We can afford it. A board design
> we can copy exists in their tech notes and Open Source software supports
> it. Rather than redundant CPUs,  it triples all registers. It runs at only
> 50 MHz so maybe is not your communications processor.

Hello Bruce,

While AMSAT can likely afford the VA10820, a silicon-on-insulator design, 
other groups might not be able to do so. One is also concerend about the
long-term availability of this part, lack of performance versus cost, and
the lack of a CAN controller for forward-looking spacecraft bus designs.

The TI TMS570 "Hercules" processors implement lock-step dual processors
with automatic fault detection and EDAC for flash. SRAM, and peripheral FIFOs.
They are designed to handle SEUs in safety-of-life missions such as 
automotive ABS and SRS applications. Highlights of this processor can be found
in the AMSAT 2018 Symposium proceedings.

This is quite the step up from the Fox-series "commodity" processors, for 
the about $20 per chip. 

This, combined with the redundant primary/secondary design of the RT-IHU, 
provides an experimental platform for future low-cost, but high-reliability,
IHUs for those organizations with shallower pockets than AMSAT.

We are about 85% complete with the layout of the initial prototype and expect
to be testing real hardware sometime in late June.

(I am not on the openresearch list, btw.)

--- Zach
N0ZGO