An IoT Ground Station: Mechanics, Control, Antenna, and Reception from a LoRa Satellite Network

Authors

Keywords:

IoT ground station, Mechanics, Control, Antenna, LoRa platform, Satellites

Abstract

In this article, the design and the integral implementation of a satellite ground station connected to the Internet of Things is presented. The communication system is based on long-range wireless technology, with the objective of receiving telemetry packets from a network of low-arth orbit satellites that transmit at frequencies around 433 MHz. The design covers mechanical design aspects, the control system, the antenna system, and the receiver. The ground station is oriented with respect to the elevation and azimuth coordinates obtained from a web page. This web page contains a console that shows the telemetry packets that have been received, as well as the satellite from which they came. The ground station is a low-cost proposal since commercial ground stations could be purchased at prices much higher than 2 orders of magnitude. All these aspects implied in this easy-to-replicate ground station are especially relevant in educational terms and for amateur radio enthusiasts.

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Author Biographies

Villanueva-Maldonado Juvenal, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas Francisco Garcia Salinas, Zacatecas.

Juvenal Villanueva-Maldonado is Electrical Mechanical Engineer in the area of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 2002. He completed his Master's and Doctorate studies in Electrical Engineering with a specialty in Control at the Engineering Institute of UNAM in 2007 and 2012, respectively. He was Professor of Subject at the Faculty of Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (FI-UNAM) from 2008 to 2012, Type C Research Professor at the Technological University of Valle de Toluca in 2012, taught at the Autonomous University of Mexico City in 2013 and participated as an Associate Researcher in the Technology Transfer Office of the company Sistemas Industriales Automatizados S.A de C.V. (OTT SIASA) within the FORDECYT-DOCTORES program during the period from September 2013 to December 2014. During that time and currently continues to participate in technological development projects for small and medium-sized industries in the State of Tamaulipas, formed part of the Tamaulipas Electrical and Electronic Engineering Network (RED-IEET). As of October 2014, he has been a CONACYT Chair Researcher commissioned to the Autonomous University of Zacatecas (UAZ) where he has participated and carried out technological development projects for private and governmental institutions such as Lasec Telecommunications (a Zacatecan company) and the Mexican Space Agency. He currently belongs to the National System of Researchers at level 1. His research interests are mobile robotics, process control and automation, trajectory planning, dynamic systems modeling, and electronic design for space instrumentation, biomedical, and Internet of Things applications.

Alvarez-Flores José Luis, Universidad de Colima, colima

Jose Luis Alvarez-Flores received his MSc. from University of Colima, Colima, Mexico, in 2006, and Ph.D. degree in Engineering Applied from the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico, in 2021. Since 2006, he has been an assistant professor with the Faculty of Mechanical and Electric Engineering, Universidad de Colima. His area of interest is Radio Frequency and Antennas.

Cardenas-Juarez Marco, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, san Luis Potosí

MARCO CARDENAS-JUAREZ received the B.Sc. degree in electronic engineering from the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí (UASLP), Mexico, in 2002, the M.Sc. degree in electronic engineering (major in telecommunications) from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) at Monterrey, Mexico, in 2004, and the Ph.D. degree in electronic and electrical engineering from the University of Leeds, U.K., in 2012. Since 2003, he has been a Lecturer at different public and private universities in Mexico. In 2013, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the French-Mexican Laboratory for Informatics and Automatics Control, Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (CINVESTAV), Mexico. Since 2014, he has been an Associate Professor with the Faculty of Sciences, UASLP, where he has been the Coordinator of the B.Sc. program in telecommunications engineering since 2016. His research interest includes the Internet of Things, signal processing and applications of artificial intelligence for wireless communications. He has been a member of the Mexican National System of Researchers since 2015.

Flores-Troncoso Jorge, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas Francisco Garcia Salinas, Zacatecas.

Jorge Flores Troncoso received his BS in Engineering Communications and Electronics from the Autonomous University of Zacatecas in 1992. After, in 2000 and 2010 he received his MSc and PhD in Electronic & Telecommunications from CICESE, respectively. Dr. Flores is currently a full time professor-researcher at electrical engineering faculty at Autonomous University of Zacatecas as a Professor. His principal interests are satellite communications, wireless communications, resource allocation and embedded digital communications design.

Simon Jorge, Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías, Zacatecas

Applied electromagnetic, RF, and microwave engineer at Research, Innovation, and Development Center in Telecommunications since October 2014, where I am conducting research in the fields of RF and microwave, organic materials, RF-energy harvesting, microwave sensors and devices at THz frequencies. I also teach RF circuits for the undergraduate program of Industrial Electronics Engineering.

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Published

2023-11-01

How to Cite

Villanueva Maldonado, J., Alvarez Flores, J. L., Cárdenas Juárez, M., Flores Troncoso, J., & Simón Rodríguez, J. (2023). An IoT Ground Station: Mechanics, Control, Antenna, and Reception from a LoRa Satellite Network. IEEE Latin America Transactions, 21(12), 1337–1347. Retrieved from https://latamt.ieeer9.org/index.php/transactions/article/view/8358

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 12 (2023): Ordinary Issue

Section

Electronics