Sun is Shining, Weather is Sweet....

That’s right. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, it’s not dark; it’s just your sunglasses. The pain on the back of your neck and shoulders is actually sunburn. It’s summer, people, and we’ve finally had some pretty fabulous weather, with the UK racking up temperatures hotter than Barbados and Tahiti at times.

But take a minute to actually think about the sun. As well as being the giver of tan lines and facilitator of days at the beach it’s also the closest star to Earth, (practically next door at only 149,600,000 km away), and is about 4.6 billion years old. We actually know quite a lot about it, thanks to solar imaging.

BittWare was involved in a project to design a solar image processing system for one of their customers. The processing requirements were quite specific – the customer was looking for adaptive image processing using multi-channel correlation. This called for a very large multi-processor system with a huge amount of I/O bandwidth, extensive integration work, and a very efficient cooling system.

 

BittWare’s solution included ten DSP-based boards, supplying 80 DSPs, and a custom designed chassis to provide efficient cooling. They drew on decades of expertise in digital signal processing design, enabling them to create an 80-DSP system that functioned with no issues, which also cooled properly. Although the hardware used was COTS hardware, significant application-specific design work was needed to ultimately provide the final system to their customer.

Enjoy the sun this weekend!

UEI Embedded Hardware in Space!!

On September 11th, 1997, NASAs 'Mars Global Surveyor' spacecraft reached the Red Planet. 

Space exploration has always intrigued mankind. Ever since Galileo first saw the craters on the moon in 1609 we have wanted to find out more. Is there anybody out there? 

Yuri Gagarin made the first space flight 50 years ago. Since then humans have mastered low earth orbit. Since Gagarin's historic achievement, government agencies such as NASA have launched people into space for mainly scientific reasons. This is about to change. Experts say that by 2061, millions of people may well have gone to space, and thousands may be living there.

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit, and has been continuously occupied for more than 10 years. Astronauts living at the Space Station are required to complete daily exercise quotas, as studies have shown that they can lose muscle mass, bone mass, and cardiovascular function after long-duration stays in microgravity. Although astronauts gradually recover their muscle tissue and most of their bone mass when they return to Earth, it is important that they are strong enough to perform emergency procedures during landing.

The COLBERT (Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill) is adapted from a regular treadmill available on Earth, with a few significant additions!
Without gravity to hold the runner to the surface of the treadmill, elastic straps fit around the shoulders and waist to keep the runner from shooting across the space station with the first step. There is also a structure to support the device that allows astronauts run on it without shaking the rest of the International Space Station, or disturbing delicate experiments taking place in the weightless environment.

NASA selected the UEIPAC Cube to perform an essential role in controlling the COLBERT treadmill in the Space Station exercise facility. Some of the functions monitored by the UEIPAC are characteristics of the astronaut’s gait and foot impact forces while exercising on the treadmill. This is determined by sensing data of various types from accelerometers and load cells in the treadmill and associated restraining equipment.

The fact that the UEIPAC hardware is a very compact, rugged design that makes efficient use of conductive cooling makes the unit ideally suited for space applications.