Ground Station Software: A Dynamic and Scripted Approach

Biswajit Panja; Bradley Schneider; Priyanka Meharia

Biswajit Panja Computer Science, Engineering and Physics University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI 48502
Bradley Schneider Mathematics, Computer Science, and Physics Morehead State University, Morehead, KY 40351
Priyanka Meharia Accounting and Finance Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197

Keywords: Ground station Ruby Scripted approach GUI

Abstract

In the satellite world, there are many pieces of software used to control ground stations. Several iterations of such software exist, mainly as the result of research projects either by universities or the government. Unfortunately, these pieces of software all repeat common mistakes and little improvement in the software is made. The main goal of this paper is to provide an outline for a reusable and extensible application for the manual and automated control of networked ground stations. Essentially, the focus of this project is to address the problems perceived in existing ground station software. These problems are generally addressed through the use of a dynamic language, an object-oriented approach (everything, including primitive data types, is an object in Ruby), and the fact that the program is essentially open source because it is written in an interpreted language.