Development of the interface software for the Antarctic penetrator

• Main Author: Kazuo Shibuya
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: National Institute of Polar Research 2005
• Subjects: geo; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.15094/00009336; https://doaj.org/article/8c7e0587f7104bb8be2f1d5b9094ca74

We have developed PC-based interface software which controls ground system segments (GSSs) of the Antarctic penetrator through an automatic data collection system onboard a helicopter. A pen-touch panel was developed for easy operation. There are six basic functions in the interface software; GSS time synchronization", make schedule file", send schedule file", GSS time calibration", data read-out", and sleep". The sleep command enables us to cut off the radio transmitter/receiver to save power during a pre-determined period. After execution of each command, log files are saved automatically. In order to monitor processing by eye, a bar graph appears during execution of time synchronization" and data read-out". As for malfunctioning encountered during the 43rd Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, the related software bugs were identified and the codes were rewritten.