Telemetry

Telemetry is the automated measurement and remote transmission of information about an object’s state or environment. It involves collecting data through sensors, converting it into signals suitable for transmission, and sending it to a receiving system for monitoring, analysis, and storage. Telemetry enables observation and control of distant or inaccessible systems without on-site measurement.

A typical telemetry system includes sensors and transducers, a data acquisition or telemetry unit, transmission links (wired, wireless, cellular, satellite), and a ground station or data center that receives, processes, and visualizes the data. Data may be sent at regular intervals or in response to events, and may trigger alarms if readings exceed predefined thresholds. Power efficiency, bandwidth, and latency considerations influence sampling rates, encoding, and error correction.

Telemetry has broad applications across industries. In spaceflight and aviation, it conveys telemetry on vehicle systems and environmental conditions. In weather, environmental monitoring, and industrial settings, telemetry supports remote sensing and SCADA-like supervision. In automotive and motorsport, telemetry dashboards provide real-time performance data. Medical telemetry enables remote patient monitoring, while consumer analytics often use telemetry data to diagnose device behavior and improve services. Privacy and security concerns arise when personal or sensitive data are transmitted, necessitating encryption, authentication, and access controls.

Standards and protocols vary by domain. Space missions commonly use CCSDS standards; IoT employs MQTT or CoAP; automotive systems rely on in-vehicle networks. The term telemetry derives from tele- distant and metron- measure, reflecting its focus on measuring and transmitting remote data.