MFEX: Microrover Flight Experiment

Power and Control Electronics

Lead Electronics Designer: Gary Bolotin
Lead Power Subsystem Designer: Ron Banes

The "brain" of the MFEX Microrover (Sojourner) is comprised of two electronics boards interconnected to one another, the sensors within the WEB (Warm Electronics Box), and sensors and actuators external to the WEB via a set of three Flex cables. Although the boards are generally referred to as the "CPU" Board and the "Power" Board, they each contain components which are responsible for power generation, power conditioning, power distribution and control, analog and digital I/O control and processing, computing (i.e., the CPU), and data storage (i.e., memory). The board set is pictured below along with listing of several physical parameters.




Power Board Electronics 1

Power Board (Bottom Side) and CPU Board (Top Side)
JPL-26575BC


CPU Board (Bottom Side) and Power Board (Top Side)
JPL-26575AC


 

ASSEMBLY: Electronics Board Set (P/N 10159704, S/N 003)

The above photographs show the configuration of the Flight Unit Rover's (FUR) electronics board set (S/N 003) after conformal coating. The board set as shown does not yet contain the (8) flight PROMS which were installed prior to launch.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Mass: 995 g
Area (footprint): 360 cm2 CPU Board
278 cm2 Power Board
Height: 1.9 cm CPU Board
1.9 cm Power Board
PWB layers: 12 each PWB
PWB Thickness: 2.5 mm each PWB
Components: 1026 not including flex harness, connectors, bulkhead

Back to the Rover Control & Navigation Page.


Web Page Author: Henry W. Stone

All information on this site, including text and images describing the Rover is copyright © 1996, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.