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Volume 25
Issue 24
10.3390/s25247661
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Evaluation by Proton-Radiation Tests of a COTS-Embedded Computer Running the cFS Flight-Mission Software for a Nanosatellite

by
Vanessa Vargas
1,*,
Pablo Ramos
1,
Alfredo Bautista
2,
Alejandro Castro-Carrera
1 and
Yolanda Morilla Garcia
3
1
Grupo de Investigación Embsys, Departamento de Eléctrica, Electrónica y Telecomunicaciones, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, Av. General Rumiñahui y Ambato, Sangolquí 171103, Ecuador
2
Grupo de Investigación Embsys, Carrera de Ingeniería en Electrónica y Automatización, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, Av. General Rumiñahui y Ambato, Sangolquí 171103, Ecuador
3
Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA), Universidad de Sevilla, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Junta de Andalucia, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sensors 2025, 25(24), 7661; https://doi.org/10.3390/s25247661
Submission received: 3 November 2025 / Revised: 5 December 2025 / Accepted: 10 December 2025 / Published: 17 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Fault Diagnosis & Sensors 2025)
Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

This work aims to evaluate the feasibility of using a COTS-embedded computer as an on-board computer (OBC) for nanosatellites in academic projects. The prototype is based on the BeagleBone Black board, which runs the cFS flight-mission software on the RTEMS operating system. For evaluation purposes, 15.9 MeV proton-accelerated radiation tests were performed at the CNA facility to obtain the soft-error rate of the DDR3 SDRAM. Results show the presence of bit-flips in memory cells, leading to error propagation, and a burst of errors produced by SEEs, affecting the control logic of the SDRAM memory. Despite the errors and accumulated dose, the board continued to function normally, with a worst-case FIT indicating that one failure every two years is expected in the SDRAM memory. This study suggests the possibility of using BeagleBone Black as an OBC for LEO. In addition, the article provides clues on how redundancy-based fault tolerance can be implemented.
Keywords: accelerated testing; SEE; SEFI; SEU; on-board computer; embedded computer accelerated testing; SEE; SEFI; SEU; on-board computer; embedded computer

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Vargas, V.; Ramos, P.; Bautista, A.; Castro-Carrera, A.; Morilla Garcia, Y. Evaluation by Proton-Radiation Tests of a COTS-Embedded Computer Running the cFS Flight-Mission Software for a Nanosatellite. Sensors 2025, 25, 7661. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25247661

AMA Style

Vargas V, Ramos P, Bautista A, Castro-Carrera A, Morilla Garcia Y. Evaluation by Proton-Radiation Tests of a COTS-Embedded Computer Running the cFS Flight-Mission Software for a Nanosatellite. Sensors. 2025; 25(24):7661. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25247661

Chicago/Turabian Style

Vargas, Vanessa, Pablo Ramos, Alfredo Bautista, Alejandro Castro-Carrera, and Yolanda Morilla Garcia. 2025. "Evaluation by Proton-Radiation Tests of a COTS-Embedded Computer Running the cFS Flight-Mission Software for a Nanosatellite" Sensors 25, no. 24: 7661. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25247661

APA Style

Vargas, V., Ramos, P., Bautista, A., Castro-Carrera, A., & Morilla Garcia, Y. (2025). Evaluation by Proton-Radiation Tests of a COTS-Embedded Computer Running the cFS Flight-Mission Software for a Nanosatellite. Sensors, 25(24), 7661. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25247661

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