Component based real time software for student imaging satellite

We have considered a component based design approach for developing real-time software for an On-Board Computer (OBC) in an imaging satellite. The On-Board Computer (OBC) is the system which controls and co-ordinates the functions of satellite. It consists of all sub system interfaced with it. The following subsystem in the OBC is Telemetry and Telecommand and AOCS (Attitude and Orbit Control), Payload and Power system, Thermal and Processor Operation. These are the subsystems interfaced with OBC. We mainly focus on building components that are independent from each other in order to provide flexible operation. The imaging satellite mainly contains magnetometer used to sense magnetic field, magnetic torquers(actuators) used to orient the position of the satellite, camera used to capture images, Receiver(Rx) to receive commands, Transmitter(Tx) to transmit payload and housekeeping data, temperature sensors, solar sensors and power system used for supply. This software is responsible for initializing, monitoring and managing all the above components that are externally attached and thereby help function the whole satellite in turn. Additionally the software is responsible for exchanging the data between components and thereby helps components communicate with each other. The whole software is developed on an AT32UC3A0512, EVK1100 series processor using AVR studio 5.0 software tool in C language.