Mission control asks the crew for a one-page sensor plan by the end of the day.
Rocket wants to add every sensor on the station. "More data has to be better," he says.
Raven is not so sure. "A thermometer will not help tell a comet from a star. It just gives us more to store."
Nova projects a blank plan with four boxes: Hardware, Signal, Software and Where the Data Goes.
"A good plan explains why each part is there," she says. "Every box should earn its place."
Rocket sighs, crosses out half his list and picks up a fresh pencil.
Hardware is the physical part of a computing system, like a camera or a cable.
Software is the set of programs that tells the hardware what to do with the data it collects.
A sensor plan combines both. The hardware collects signals, and the software turns them into useful data.
The plan also says where the data goes, such as from the dome to mission control.
| Plan box | Sky Sorter design | Hardware or software? |
|---|---|---|
| Sensor | The telescope camera | Hardware |
| Signal | Light, recorded as a grid of brightness values | Data from the hardware |
| Processing | A program that measures each snapshot | Software |
| Data exchange | The measurements are sent to mission control | Hardware and software together |
More sensors are not always better. Each one adds data to store, send and check.
A good plan asks one question about every sensor: does this signal help reach the objective?
Sky Sorter's objective is to label snapshots correctly. A dome thermometer does not help with that.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| A sensor plan combines hardware and software. | ? |
| Adding every sensor on the station is always the best design. | ? |
| Software is the physical part of a system. | ? |
| A good plan says where the data goes. | ? |
Solid design work. Tomorrow you will spot seeing and hearing machines in everyday life.