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Using FIRM - Logging & Downloading Data

Once your device is configured, the next step is to log data and get it off the device for analysis.

This page focuses on:

  • Running a test or flight
  • Downloading the raw FIRM data afterwards
  • How to stream and read FIRM data to your own devices

📜 How Logging Works

FIRM is designed to keep things as simple as possible:

  • As soon as the board is powered on, it boots up and immediately starts logging data into a new log file.
  • There is no "start" or "stop" button - FIRM just records until it powers off.
  • While logging internally, FIRM also streams data to whatever computer (Raspberry Pi, Arduino, etc.) it's connected to.

📚 Make sure you have configured the device using the web app to use the correct protocol and fields before continuing.

This means that you can:

  • Download the full "raw device log" later even if no computer was connected.
  • Still read/stream real-time data if a computer is connected.

⬇️ Downloading the Raw FIRM Device Log File

After a test or flight:

  1. Plug your FIRM device into your laptop.
  2. Open the FIRM Web App at https://firm.ncsurocketry.org/
  3. Connect to the device using the Connect to FIRM button.
  4. Scroll down to the Download Log File section.

Use the dropdown to pick which recorded session you want (usually just Most Recent Session), then click:

Download Log

This gives you a .csv log file containing what the device recorded internally.

You can also import/export device settings as JSON files using the import and export buttons.

🖥️ Connecting FIRM Other Devices

While the device is logging internally, it also streams data to whatever system it's plugged into.

We've built a cross-language client library to make this painless. Currently, we have support for:

All of these are maintained in this repo:
https://github.com/NCSU-High-Powered-Rocketry-Club/FIRM-Client

👨‍🚀 What this means for you

As long as you:

  1. Configure the FIRM device using the web app, and
  2. Plug it into something capable of reading serial data (a Raspberry Pi, a laptop, an Arduino, a flight computer, etc.),

...then all you need to do is follow the README in the FIRM-Client repo to start reading parsed FIRM data in your code.

The client library handles:

  • Reading the raw byte stream
  • Parsing FIRM data packets
  • Collecting and giving the data to your device

So the workflow becomes:

  • Configure FIRM in the web app
  • Plug it into your device
  • Install the client library
  • Read structured FIRM data in your project

That's it--just plug it into your device and start reading data!