Ridemaster – Motorcycle Communication
Design 1st Portfolio Case Studies Ridemaster - Motorcycle Communication Device Device for safe communication between motorcyclists on the road Turn...
James Webb Space Telescope - FPGA Support
Keeping the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on Track With Electrical Design Support
An inside glimpse Into solving the electronic design FPGA challenges with the JWST
The Problem: Late Stage Space Simulation Uncovered a Serious Firmware Issue
Late-stage space simulation tests with the JWST uncovered a crippling problem with the ‘Fine Guidance Sensor’ (FGS). Honeywell who was contracted by NASA to develop the electronic hardware needed an FPGA expert right away to solve the issue. Honeywell reached out to Design 1st, who previously helped another Satelitte project, to tap into our deep FPGA expertise to help.
- Main Problem: the hardware was tested in space-simulating conditions (as cold as -240°C), and some scenarios caused the system to behave inconsistently.
- The problematic behaviour proved very difficult to reproduce, which meant that diagnosing the problem would not be at all straightforward.
- The software inconsistencies had to be quickly diagnosed and fixed, written into new Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) integrated circuits
The Solution:
After a fast-turnaround technical review, Design 1st VP of Electronics, Peter Cottreau, proposed changes to over 3000 lines of code. The next challenge was convincing NASA and the world’s preeminent space authorities that this update would fix the issues.
- After the green light was given to proceed, the FPGA code was rewritten, and a testing framework was built to verify that his changes were effective.
- The code update was successful and the software was written to new FPGAs and successfully installed on the FGS without damaging the host circuit boards.
- On December 25, 2021 the JWST launched into space!
Design 1st helped keep the launch of the JWST on track
“Once we made the decision to update the FPGA code, a long sequence of events had to be executed properly and without failures. Peter Cottreau was instrumental in finding and implementing the necessary fixes for the Fine Guidance System (FGS).
Brian MacKay
Chief Engineer, COM DEV (NASA Contractor)
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