Cosmos Forum

Cosmoneer Skills Challenges => Challenges in work => : Cosmoneer November 16, 2016, 04:03:46 PM

: Long Range Communications
: Cosmoneer November 16, 2016, 04:03:46 PM
What is the background?

In order to communicate with planets across our solar system, we have to use high powered radio dishes with a large surface area to increase signal reception strength.  Additionally, the spacecraft itself is host to a reasonably sized high powered antenna.



How could this challenge be executed?

Using lenses and additional LEDs, the Cosmoneer Proto can be modified to dramatically increase the effective distance between Cosmoneers.



What might affect this challenge?

Stray infrared may cause interference and prevent the Serial IrDa from establishing a link.  Also, additional LEDs may need to have their light focused and collimated to increase the distance between communicating Cosmoneers.  Mirrors may need to be used to compensate for lens focal lengths that exceed the 100mm diameter of the Cosmoneer sphere.
: Re: Long Range Communications
: Cosmoneer May 29, 2017, 05:50:24 PM
Using the programming cable and the serial IrDa board (and/or the teacher remote module), the Cosmoneer is put into Command & Control Mode.


This mode will perform the following:

Once the command mode signal is received, the Cosmoneer will find magnetic north via the onboard compass, then proceed to slowly hunt for a serial IrDa homing signal.  Once this signal is found, the cosmoneer will record the starting compass heading for reception of this signal and will continue listening for the signal until the signal is lost, at which point the cosmoneer will record the end angle.  Once the signal is lost for a period of time and additional compass angle has passed, the cosmoneer will compute the mid-point of the homing signal and will return to that point and broadcast an "acknowledged" signal, to which the transmitter of the command signal will send an "ok" signal, to which the Cosmoneer will then send a "ready" signal.

At this point the Cosmoneer is waiting for a simple compass heading command, and upon receiving it will maneuver to that heading and wait there for one minute.  If it receives any data during this time, at the end of one minute, it will maneuver to face the command signal source and will relay the data it received.  If no data was received, then the cosmoneer will simply broadcast a "done" signal, followed by a "ready" signal.