[[!meta title="TeleScience"]]
# TeleScience

This is an expansion board for [TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum/) intended to 
support science projects.  It includes an ARM Cortex M3 processing 
platform with 8 megabytes of on-board flash memory for storing collected
science data, plus support for 8 NTC thermistors in two banks of 4, 3 
solid-state relays, and a large number of analog and digital I/O pins.

There are no photos of the current prototype version yet, see the history
linked at the bottom of this page for photos of the original boards.

## Motivation ##

Bdale's son Robert got interested in mapping the temperatures experienced
by nose cones and fins in flights beyond Mach 1, which led us to work with 
our good friend Jeff Lane from 
[Shockwave Rocketry](http://www.shockwaverocketry.com/) 
to instrument some of his nose cones, and to work out how to create 
composite fins with sensors embedded for airframe projects
[2YikStik](http://www.gag.com/rockets/airframes/2YikStik) and 
[YikStik3](http://www.gag.com/rockets/airframes/YikStik3) 
in pursuit of that goal.  

It was easy for us to imagine other experiments that would be facilitated 
by having the ability to control a few outputs and log sensor data in
syncronization with flight state information logged by TeleMetrum.  We
went one step further and created a "companion board protocol" in
TeleMetrum that allows data being collected by TeleScience to be included
in the radio telemetry stream for live observation of pre-flight and
in-flight science data.

## Features ##

### User View ###

* Small circuit board mounted near [TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum/)
* Requires [TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum/) v0.2 or later, as v0.1 does not 
  have the required companion board interface
* 8 NTC thermistor inputs, in 2 banks of 4.  A single through-hole
  resistor is used to configure each bank for a given thermistor type.
* 3 solid-state relays, ideal for things like pushing camera buttons 
  under program control
* all available pins on the processor brought out to headers for 
  maximum flexibility interfacing additional sensors
* On-board 8-megabyte flash memory for data logging.
* LiPo battery connector and on-board charger for standalone use
* USB interface for programming, development, and flash memory download

### Developer View ###

* Hardware Features
	* ST Micros [STM32L151](http://www.st.com/internet/mcu/product/248821.jsp) 
	  ARM Cortex M3 based Microcontroller
	* [Winbond W25Q64CV](http://www.winbond.com/hq/enu/ProductAndSales/ProductLines/FlashMemory/SerialFlash/W25Q64CV.htm) serial flash memory
	* IXYS [CPC1014](http://www.ixys.com/PartSearchResults.aspx?searchStr=cpc1014&SearchSubmit=Go) OptoMOS Solid State Relays
	* Maxim Integrated [MAX6691](http://www.maximintegrated.com/datasheet/index.mvp/id/3256) Thermistor Temperature to Pulse Width Converters
* Software Features 
	* based on the ARM port of [AltOS](http://altusmetrum.org/AltOS)
	* programmed in C using gcc
	* Runs from on-chip flash, uses on-chip RAM
* Tools Used
	* [gEDA](http://www.gpleda.org/) for schematic capture and PCB layout
* Licenses
	* The hardware is licensed under the [TAPR](http://www.tapr.org) [Open Hardware License](http://www.tapr.org/ohl.html)
	* The software is licensed [GPL version 2](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html)

## Artifacts ##

A schematic and PC board design exist on [git.gag.com](http://git.gag.com) 
in the project 
[hw/telescience](http://git.gag.com/?p=hw/telescience;a=summary).

## Future Plans ##

The thermistor conditioning circuits in the v0.1 design were too tightly 
coupled to the particular model of EPCOS thermistor that we chose for 
[2YikStik](http://www.gag.com/rockets/airframes/2YikStik/) and
[YikStik3](http://www.gag.com/rockets/airframes/YikStik3/).  A major 
revision of the board led to v0.2 which was never fully evaluated, because
the prototypes of TeleScience were lost in the 
[Black Forest Fire](http://www.gag.com/blackforestfire.html).

The biggest hurdle we need to overcome before re-starting this project is
deciding what TeleScience should actually be.  The challenge is that if the
board is too "generic", it will be hard to use.  If it's too "specific", 
knowing what functionality to actually include gets hard...

As an alternative, if you want to connect custom sensors to a 
[TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum/) or [TeleMega](../TeleMega/) board,
you might want to investigate 
[AltOSCompanion](https://github.com/bdale/AltOSCompanion), which is an
[Arduino](https://www.arduino.cc/) sketch for implementing a custom companion
board!

## [History of TeleScience](history) ##