T-DAQ-P: a portable tablet-form multi-stream data acquisition and contextual telemetry platform based on COTS modules and a custom integration layer

TL;DR

T-DAQ-P is a portable, multi-stream data acquisition platform combining COTS modules and custom integration, suitable for laboratory and field detector deployments with robust telemetry and control features.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel portable data acquisition system integrating multi-stream ingestion, telemetry, and control using COTS modules and custom firmware, with detailed architecture and validation.

Findings

Successfully integrates multiple data streams and sensors.

Demonstrates resilience and robustness in field conditions.

Provides a reproducible blueprint for portable instrumentation.

Abstract

We present T-DAQ-P, a compact and portable data acquisition and telemetry platform designed to support detector deployments in laboratory and field conditions by integrating event streaming, slow-control telemetry, and operator-oriented commissioning tools in a single unit. The system combines a Raspberry Pi 5 host for multi-stream ingestion, visualization, and storage with an Arduino UNO R4 WiFi microcontroller dedicated to sensor acquisition. The electronics integrate commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) modules through an engineered interface layer including protected power distribution, logic-level adaptation, and a DB-37 expansion connector exposing I2C-SPI-ADC lines for external instrumentation. On the telemetry side, the microcontroller firmware performs automatic I2C discovery, conditional sensor handling, and outputs framed NMEA-like messages with XOR checksum and explicit block delimiters, enabling robust parsing and synchronization on the host. A finite-state control (STOP-RUN-SIM-INIT) and watchdog-style recovery actions implement resilience under partial hardware availability and field failures. The host software adopts a multi-process architecture with independent readers for event, telemetry, and actuator streams, message queues for isolation, and coherent time-stamped logging across streams. A simulation mode and integrated command channel allow end-to-end pipeline verification and rapid commissioning without full sensor availability. The paper details architecture, electronics integration, firmware protocol, host software design, and functional/engineering validation procedures, providing a reproducible blueprint for portable instrumentation readout and contextual telemetry acquisition.