Toolchain Overview
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data-gather.py(Cron) - Collects the data from the various sensors onboard the AirU station, and writes the sample to the appropriate destination depending on the operation mode of the station. In Field Mode the data will be written to an internal database and uploaded at a later time. In Lab Mode the data will be appended to a file under the current time and date and can be accessed via USB at some later time. -
data-upload.py(Cron) - Compliments the 'data-gather.py' script, uploading any data samples that have not already been uploaded. -
data-clean.py(Anacron) - Serves as a janitorial support script, cleaning up any stale database entries which have already been uploaded.
- NTP - Network Time Protocol
- HWCLK - Hardware Clock
- SysCLK - System Clock
The software toolchain for an AirU station consists of the three scripts described above. The data-gather.py and data-upload.py scripts are designed to run continuously by the Cron scheduler at some rate. The data-clean.py script is designed to run periodically by the Anacron scheduler over a much longer period of time. An additional script is used at startup to synchronize time between an external hardware clock (which runs despite power loss) and the system clock (which stops counting in the event of power loss), which ensures that time is not lost between power cycles. An overview of this process is shown below:
