4.5 KiB
CubeSatSim
The CubeSat Simulator https://github.com/alanbjohnston/CubeSatSim/wiki is a low cost satellite emulator that runs on solar panels and batteries, transmits UHF radio telemetry, has a 3D printed frame, and can be extended by additional sensors and modules. This project is sponsored by the not-for-profit Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, AMSAT®.
There are several hardware versions and software branches to go with them - see below for information.
See the Wiki Software Install page for more details: https://github.com/alanbjohnston/CubeSatSim/wiki/Software-Install. To build and run the software on a Raspberry Pi 3B, 3B+, or Pi Zero W (doesn't work on Pi 4 since rpitx doesn't work on it yet): Requires:
- Raspbian Stretch or Buster, full desktop or Lite
- wiringpi
- git
- libasound2-dev
- pi-power-button
- Direwolf
- rpitx
See the Wiki Software Install page for more details: https://github.com/alanbjohnston/CubeSatSim/wiki/Software-Install. To build and run the software on a Raspberry Pi 3B, 3B+, or Pi Zero W (Does NOT work on a Pi 4 since rpitx does not work on it yet):
sudo apt-get install -y wiringpi git libasound2-dev i2c-tools
Run raspi-config and enable the I2C bus by selecting Option 5 Interfacing Options and then Option 5 I2C and selecting Y to enable the ARM I2C bus:
sudo raspi-config
Select Finish at the bottom to exit raspi-config. Then type:
sudo cp /boot/config.txt /boot/config.txt.0
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
Use the down arrow key to go down in the file until you find this line:
# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README
Add the following two lines under it:
dtoverlay=i2c-gpio
dtoverlay=pi3-miniuart-bt
Press Ctrl-X then type y then hit Enter to save the file and exit the editor. You should back at the pi@... prompt.
Edit the cmdline.txt file by typing:
sudo cp /boot/cmdline.txt /boot/cmdline.txt.0
sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt
Remove the following text in cmdline.txt to prevent a console from running on the serial port:
console=serial0,115200
Press Ctrl-X then type y then hit Enter to save the file and exit the editor. You should back at the pi@... prompt.
Reboot by typing:
sudo reboot now
after logging back into the Pi, type:
ls -a /dev/i2c*
you should see two I2C buses:
i2c-1 i2c-3
Continue the install by typing:
cd
Then type:
git clone http://github.com/alanbjohnston/CubeSatSim.git
cd CubeSatSim
git checkout master
Create a sim.cfg configuration file with your amateur radio callsign by typing:
echo "callsign" >> sim.cfg
Compile the code:
make rebuild
cd
git clone https://www.github.com/wb2osz/direwolf
cd direwolf
make -j
(takes a while)
sudo make install
make install-rpi
Note that this last command may fail if you are using Raspbian Lite since there is no Desktop (you may get an error such as this "ln: failed to create symbolic link '/home/pi/Desktop/direwolf.desktop': No such file or directory make: *** [Makefile.linux:727: install-rpi] Error 1"
cd
git clone https://github.com/F5OEO/rpitx.git
cd rpitx
./install.sh
(Takes a while). It will prompt you if you want to modify /boot/config.txt file. Type a y and the script will complete.
cd
git clone https://github.com/alanbjohnston/pi-power-button.git
cd pi-power-button
./script/install
To make the demo.sh script run automatically on boot:
sudo cp ~/CubeSatSim/systemd/cubesatsim.service /etc/systemd/system/cubesatsim.service
sudo systemctl enable cubesatsim
Now reboot for all the changes to take effect:
sudo reboot now
After rebooting, tune your radio or SDR to 434.9 MHz FM, and you should receive telemetry from the CubeSatSim!
You can stop the service:
sudo systemctl stop cubesatsim
After rebooting, it will start unless you disable it:
sudo systemctl disable cubesatsim
See the Wiki for more details https://github.com/alanbjohnston/CubeSatSim/wiki
Older Versions
There are several versions of the hardware and software to go with them:
- The original design used a Digital Transceiver Board for the Raspberry Pi (DigitalTxRxRPi) and APRS AFSK 1200 bps telemetry only. Use the aprs-digitaltxrx branch for this and the vB2 wiki page https://github.com/alanbjohnston/CubeSatSim/wiki/vB2-Home
- An updated design that used the Transmitter/Filter Board (TFB) instead of the the Transceiver Board. For the same APRS AFSK telemetry, use the aprs-rpitx branch and the vB3 wiki page https://github.com/alanbjohnston/CubeSatSim/wiki/vB3-Home. Note that this hardware can still use the master code branch.