JPL Sensor Web pod.
The basic idea is very similar to what we would now build with an ESP32. A pod sleeps most of the time, wakes up to read its sensors, sends the information over a low power radio link and can relay packets from other pods to form a mesh network.
The clear top contains the small solar cells. Inside are the rechargeable battery, radio, antennas, controller and sensor connections. The battery supplies the short current peaks needed when the radio transmits, while the solar cells slowly replace the energy between measurements.
What makes it interesting is not one individual component but the complete architecture. It is a self powered outdoor sensor node designed to cooperate with other nodes instead of needing a direct radio connection from every sensor to the base station.
This is basically the late 1990s and early 2000s version of an ESP32 sensor mesh, only built as a purpose made research pod.
Teardown photos below.
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