Within this master's thesis, the student presents the design, hardware realization, and functional verification of a modular, high-resolution control electronics system for a compact LIBS material analyser, complemented by a feasibility study and development roadmap for its adaptation to lunar surface missions. The thesis is written in a well-arranged manner, logically structured, and features an adequate scope. The student progressively describes each phase of the design process and concludes with a discussion on potential improvements for design errors. The individual elements of the system consist of commercially available components. The student primarily focused on the backplane, i.e., the power distribution and the mutual interconnection of the individual components. Furthermore, he designed the communication protocol between the subsystems and developed the overall firmware. From a formal standpoint, the thesis is of a high standard. The student demonstrated a high level of diligence and independence throughout the research. The results presented in this work provide significant practical contributions to the ongoing development of the LIBS analyser. A few formal errors do occur, such as incorrect units of time (uS), a missing comma after equation 2.1, and citations incorrectly placed after the end of a sentence. However, these minor flaws do not diminish the impression of the thesis, which I consider successful. Therefore, I propose a grade of 92/A. Points proposed by supervisor: 92

Lukáš Mlčoch’s thesis focuses on control electronics for the LIBS laser spectroscopic system. The work is part of a larger project aimed at developing a space-qualified LIBS analyser, currently in the initial phase of designing key components and conducting laboratory prototyping.

In the introductory section, the student describes the concept of the entire LIBS MiniFly instrument and summarises the key parameters of its components in the current prototype. He then briefly explains the LIBS method and compares it with similar analytical spectroscopic techniques. The introduction concludes with a chapter referencing technical regulations and standards addressing the requirements for space-qualified instrumentation.

The main part of the thesis is the design and implementation of a prototype control electronics system for the LIBS process. A fundamental requirement here is precise time-synchronisation of laser pulses and the acquisition of excited spectra. The student opted for a modular design, dividing the electronics into several sections. The heart of the system is a single-board control computer that, with the help of expansion cards, controls the LIBS system's individual functions—laser control, operation of the spectrometers, data acquisition, and so on. The student developed the electronic schematics for the individual cards and designed the corresponding printed circuit boards equipped with microcontrollers; he programmed the control software, finished the boards, and brought them to life. What I appreciate about his work is that he identified and corrected all errors in the circuit design, bringing the entire device to a functional state. He subsequently demonstrated this by triggering a sequence of trigger signals for the laser and spectrometers, thereby confirming that the key requirement for precise synchronisation of measurements had been met.

I evaluate the text portion of the thesis with reservations. The structure strikes me as slightly illogical, as the student first describes the concept of the LIBS MiniFly device and then returns to the overall motivation in the second chapter. Part of the thesis assignment was to compare LIBS with other spectroscopic methods, but the student carried out this comparison only very superficially. Among other things, the thesis task was to develop recommendations for the device's further development with regard to future deployment in a space environment. In Chapter 5, the student summarises the general requirements for space-qualified instrumentation (which, in my opinion, belongs in the introductory section), but does not provide specific recommendations for the device in question (e.g., proposals for possible space-qualified key LIBS components and electronics parts to maintain the device’s key functions).

Overall, I evaluate the thesis as having met the requirements (with the minor reservations mentioned above) and recommend it for defence. Topics for thesis defence:

1. You mentioned that the vacuum environment tightens the requirements for the time synchronisation. Considering the presented device version, what is the actual timesequencing/triggering accuracy limit? Please comment on instrument internal delays, PCB wiring lengths, and latencies of triggered devices.

Points proposed by reviewer: 85