Real-time in-situ monitoring of particle deposition with on-chip electronic dust counter (DUST: DUst System Tracker)

The project aimed at developing a miniaturized fully electronic system for real-time monitoring of the amount of dust particles depositing on it. The project of this Electronic Dust Counter has been targeting avionics and space mission’s requirements, where particle contamination can alter the operation of instruments and scientific payloads, by providing a measure and a verification of the deposition events on space hardware during fabrication, assembly and in the launch phase as well as during long missions. Therefore, the system has been designed to be miniaturized, robust to shakes, precise in the counts, simple in operation, consuming minimum power and allowing long-term dust tracking over weeks or months. The objective of the project was to demonstrate that such an innovative system is suitable for being considered by the space industry and fulfills its requirements in tracking dust levels over use in long missions and in providing a log file of the "particle contamination" lifeline on the sensor site.