Welcome to the Heron MkII CubeSatellite Documentation

All of the code and some of the hardware design for our project can be found on the UTAT Space Systems GitHub. If you’re currently on the GitHub, our documentation can also be viewed on Read the Docs.

This documentation covers the software used on our satellite and some useful getting started information for new members. It has been created with the following goals in mind:

• To enable new UTAT SS members to quickly get up to speed and begin contributing to the codebase
• To document the functionality of the various libraries we develop
• To contain information regarding build instructions and debugging on our custom hardware

Our documentation is organized into the following sections:

• Getting Started
• Software and Programming
• Electronics and Altium

Getting Started

• Getting Started
  • Software Installation
  • Optional Software installation
  • Patching avrdude for 64M1
  • Real-Time Embedded Systems
  • Satellite Software
  • Command Line
  • The AVR Toolchain
  • The ATMega32M1 Microcontroller
  • Hello World ATMega32M1
  • Git and Github
• Useful Websites

Software and Programming

• Software Tools
  • Software Workflow
  • Test Harness
  • Our Toolchain
  • lib-common
  • Switch lib-common to a Different Branch
  • UART Terminal
  • CoolTerm Capture
  • Debugging Programs Atmel-Studio
  • Debugging Programs MPLAB X IDE
  • Git Troubleshooting
• Troubleshooting
  • Hardware
  • Software
• Embedded Systems
  • Microcontrollers
  • Registers
  • Interrupts
  • Brownout Detection
  • AVR Fuses
  • Uploading Code (Mac)
• Communication Protocols
  • CAN (Controller Area Network)
  • SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface)
  • I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) Protocol
  • UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter)
• C Programming
  • C Programming
  • Variables
  • Operators
  • Bitwise Operators
  • Control Structures
  • Functions
  • Header Files
  • #define
  • typedef
  • Pointers
  • Structs
  • .c and .h Files
  • Binary (0b) and Hexadecimal (0x) Literals
  • Integer Types
  • Print Formatting
  • Volatile Variables
• Style Guide
  • Software Style Guide
  • Technical
  • Formatting
• Testing
  • Unit Testing

Electronics and Altium

• Altium
  • Getting Started
  • Handling Errors at Compile Time
  • Creating your CAM Files for Manufacturing
  • Creating your Bill of Materials
  • Creating your Output Job File
• Electrical Systems
  • Components
  • Analog and Digital Systems
  • Equipment
  • Circuit Platforms
  • PCB Design
  • PCB Checklist
  • Footprints
  • Differential Signals
• Reading Datasheets
  • Reading Datasheets
• Electrical Style Guide
  • Electrical Style Guide

IT

• Remote Access
  • VPN Setup
• Remote Programming
  • Introduction
  • Setting up the Hardware
  • Getting Your Bearings
  • Developing on a Remote Machine
  • UART TX and RX on a Remote Machine

If you would like to contribute to our documentation, create a branch and start a pull request. If you would like to report an error, please submit an issue.