Rapid space hardware development through computer-automated testing

FORTE, the Fast On-Orbit Recording of Transient Events small satellite designed and built by Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, is scheduled for launch in August, 1997. In the spirit of {open_quotes}better, cheaper, faster{close_quotes} satellites, the RF experiment hardware (receiver and trigger sub-systems) necessitated rapid prototype testing and characterization in the development of space-flight components. This was accomplished with the assembly of engineering model hardware prior to construction of flight hardware and the design of component-specific, PC-based software control libraries. Using the LabVIEW{reg_sign} graphical programming language, together with off-the-shelf PC digital I/O and GPIB interface cards, hardware control and complete automation of test equipment was possible from one PC. Because the receiver and trigger sub-systems employed complex functions for signal discrimination and transient detection, thorough validation of all functions and illumination of any faults were priorities. These methods were successful in accelerating the development and characterization of space-flight components prior to integration and allowed more complete data to be gathered than could have been accomplished without automation. Additionally, automated control of input signal sources was carried over from bench-level to system-level with the use of networked Linux workstation utilizing a GPIB interface