Designing, Fabricating and TestingConcurrently Active Wireless Sensors

There are many possible uses for remotely powered environmental sensing devices. The University of Pittsburgh has obtained a subcontract to assist in the first development phase of one such device for NASA, a wireless temperature sensor that could ultimately be used to measure the temperature of panels on their spacecraft. This thesis describes the work that has been done to completely meet the project specifications set forth in the subcontract, with particular emphasis being given to the contributions made by the author. In addition to the remote sensor board hardware and software, an embedded protocol is developed that can allow hundreds of these devices to transmit their temperature readings over a single communications channel (amplitude shift keying at 418 MHz) without interference or the need for an on-board receiver. Laboratory testing results that verify the proper operation of the final prototype are included