Reliable, versatile and remotely controlled instrumentation of an hectometric loop antenna using appropriate technologies

Abstract

The instrumentation of a giant loop antenna dedicated to environmental measurement, on a unique scientific site and intended to be open to the scientific community is presented. An open-source, low-cost electronic system has been designed, developed, and deployed in order to meet the need for reliability and flexibility imposed respectively by the harsh environment and the scientific objectives. The system’s architecture is based on the simultaneous association of five Arduino boards piloted together by a Raspberry Pi which also controls the measurement devices. The setup is therefore automated, pilotable, and remotely reprogrammable. Special attention was paid to its hardware and software reliability. These have been proven efficient over more than two years of operation. Several scientific conference publications have already proven the feasibility of the measurement principle (Dezord et al., 2021; Dezord et al., 2022; Dezord et al., 2022). This article gives previously unpublished details regarding the electronic setup.

Keywords

• Huge loop antenna
• Reliability
• Harsh environment
• Appropriate technology
• Arduino–Raspberry association
• Instrument control