Session
Weekend Poster Session 2
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
What compute platform should picosatellites use? CubeSats, classified as nanosatellites, are transitioning from microcontrollers that cannot run modern operating systems and modern programming environments to Linux-capable compute platforms. As electronics continue to shrink, picosatellite missions are likely to become more common, perhaps using the PocketQube standard. This paper characterizes the requirements that compute platforms for picosatellites should satisfy and analyzes in detail 4 potential platforms. We show that suitable hardware does exist, but that it is not yet supported well enough to allow small teams to use it in satellites or other specialized sensor nodes.
An Evaluation of Potential Compute Platforms for Picosatellites
Utah State University, Logan, UT
What compute platform should picosatellites use? CubeSats, classified as nanosatellites, are transitioning from microcontrollers that cannot run modern operating systems and modern programming environments to Linux-capable compute platforms. As electronics continue to shrink, picosatellite missions are likely to become more common, perhaps using the PocketQube standard. This paper characterizes the requirements that compute platforms for picosatellites should satisfy and analyzes in detail 4 potential platforms. We show that suitable hardware does exist, but that it is not yet supported well enough to allow small teams to use it in satellites or other specialized sensor nodes.
