RPR v2.0.0: release Notes

What is new

RPR v2.0.0 is a major hardware and software upgrade over v1.0.0, designed for low-power, remote deployments in data-sparse regions.

Hardware changes

Microcomputer

• v1.0.0: Raspberry Pi 4B or 3B+
• v2.0.0: Raspberry Pi Zero. It consumes 3 to 4 times less power than the RPi 4B or 3B+, making it well suited for solar-powered deployments where power management is critical

GNSS receiver

• v1.0.0: Adafruit GPS FeatherWing based on MTK3339/MTK3333 chipset. It requires Arduino IDE setup and firmware update
• v2.0.0: u-blox MAX-M10S: easier to configure with u-center2 software

GNSS constellations

• v1.0.0: GPS L1 only. Needs frameware update for GLONASS and Galileo
• v2.0.0: GPS, GLONASS and Galileo L1 (BeiDou) more satellite arcs per day and improved reflector height retrieval quality

Physical

• Significantly lighter and more compact than v1.0.0
• Easier to transport, ship and install in the field

Software changes

Operating system

• v1.0.0: Raspberry Pi OS Bullseye (2022-04-09) adapted for RPi 4/3
• v2.0.0: Raspberry Pi OS Lite Bookworm (32-bit): no desktop environment, optimised for low-power headless operation

Pre-configured image

• v1.0.0: Required manual installation of libraries, Arduino IDE, environment variables and service configuration
• v2.0.0: Comes fully pre-configured — all required libraries, Python packages, environment variables and systemd services are ready out of the box. No additional setup needed after flashing the image

Automatic restart mechanism

• v1.0.0: Not available — system freeze required manual on-site intervention
• v2.0.0: Built-in automatic restart — the system monitors itself and reboots automatically if it becomes unresponsive, ensuring continuity of data acquisition without manual intervention

Migration from v1.0.0

v2.0.0 is not backward compatible with v1.0.0 hardware. The Adafruit GPS FeatherWing and Arduino IDE setup are no longer required.

Known limitations

• The Raspberry Pi Zero has limited processing power, running computationally intensive applications such as gnssrefl locally is possible but not recommended. NMEA data should be transferred to a remote server for processing.
• v2.0.0 is optimised for NMEA data collection and transmission only. On-site SNR processing is better suited to the Banana Pi M5 configuration.

Tested on

• Raspberry Pi Zero
• u-blox MAX-M10S receiver
• Deployed and tested at 8 sites in Cameroon (2025-present) as part of the ESA-funded CAMEO-WAGST project