Instrument software development for Langmuir probe onboard ROMEO satellite

The Langmuir Probe is an instrument used to measure the physical properties
of plasma. A payload consisting of two Langmuir Probes is in development
by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology Division of Space and Plasma
Physics. The payload is part of The Research and Observation in Medium
Earth Orbit (ROMEO) space satellite mission organized by the University of
Stuttgart Institute of Space Systems. To conduct medium earth orbit plasma
characterization experiments payload software for controlling the bias voltage
applied to the Langmuir Probes is necessary.
The development of software consisting of constant and sweep bias
measurement modes is described in this thesis. The payload system consists of
two main components. The microcontroller will handle communication with
the on-board computer. The field programmable gate array will obtain data
from analog to digital converters connected to the Langmuir probes, apply
filtering and decimation based on measurement parameters, and forward the
data to the microcontroller. The implementation of communication protocols
Space Packet Protocol and Packet Utilization Standard and the measurement
parameter handling are the main tasks of this thesis.
Implementation was done from institutional heritage. Reuse of mi-
microcontroller code was minimal due to unique mission requirements, field
programmable gate array code was updated to handle dynamic parameters for
constant and sweep bias modes of Langmuir Probe current measurement.
Due to time constraints, the software was partially implemented and
tested for correctness. The implementation includes a Space Packet Protocol
library, Packet Utilization Standard services, and constant and sweep bias
measurement mode parameter handling, saving, and reading. Future work
includes finishing the implementation to fulfill the software requirements and
conduct full end-to-end verifcation of the payload.