IEEE 1394: a growing computer connectivity standard for automatedtest

This paper describes the latest trends in the IEEE 1394 (“firewire^TM” or “iLink^TM”) standards and why it is becoming the connectivity standard of choice for automatic test applications. Why move to IEEE 1394, what are the possible risks with doing so, what are some of the myths associated with IEEE 1394 and a practical example of an automatic test application will all be presented with the prime emphasis on giving the latest information that will help you get IEEE 1394 integrated into your automatic test system     

Firewire in modern integrated military avionics

High performance communications, navigation, and identification (CNI) functions on modern military aircraft are increasingly required for mission readiness. The operation of simultaneous waveforms through an integrated avionics rack of shared resources becomes a test in moving data rapidly from one signal processing stage to the next. The IEEE 1394, or Firewire, is a commercial high bandwidth bus whose 64-bit addressing and maximum 400 Mbits/second throughput satisfies this demanding military avionics interconnect need. The challenge in applying this commercial product to integrated avionics is the requirement to seamlessly add message priority encoding. By having message priorities, the slower strategic communications links will not impair the performance of higher data rate tactical communications, thereby avoiding potentially life-threatening bottlenecks. The flight environment imposes additional challenges to ruggedize the cabling between integrated avionics racks and to utilize the full capabilities of the Firewire bus. A discussion of the physical, data link, network, and transport layers, as used in avionics applications will be done. Additionally, the versatility of 1394 in military avionics with its variable channel sizes, bandwidth on demand, hierarchical addressing, and upgrade to 800 and 1600 Mbps with a 64-bit wide data path, is emphasized. Finally, system maintenance advantages of 1394's hot pluggable features are discussed, with an eye toward cost reduction on the flight line and total operational time of the aircraft avionics systems     

The All-Electric Aircraft: A Systems View and Proposed NASA Research Programs

The previous papers have offered the distant vision of an all-electric aircraft?one which fully exploits the intrinsic features of electric power and electronic controls. This paper examines the path to that vision and the barriers along the way?some of which appear relatively easy to overcome while others are more formidable. It is interesting to conjecture what an all-electric aircraft will look like. The all-electric technologies may offer many design options and this paper suggests some tantalizing possibilities. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sponsored or conducted a number of activities to foster the development of an all-electric airplane. The results of these activities are presented. Finally, in a look to the future, two NASA new initiatives are briefly discussed.     

Shared technologies: a new roadmap

The long-term goal of the USAF Shared Technologies Program is to facilitate the development of a roadmap for technology insertion on the wide variety of legacy Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) accumulated by the USAF over the past 30 years. A successful roadmap will provide for Operation & Support (O&S) cost reduction, preserve Test Program Set (TPS) development investments, and evolve in concert with the DoD Executive Agent for Automatic Test Systems (ATS) initiatives and commercial industry, and (e.g., NxTest) changes. The near-term objective of this phase of the USAF Shared Technologies Program is to demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating available commercial technology into the Radio Frequency (RF) Mobile Electronic Test Set (RFMETS). The RFMETS was originally delivered to the USAF during the early 1990s and is used to support a variety of C-130 avionics including the APQ-170 and APQ-180 Radar Systems.     

Tactical cockpits-the coming revolution

A cockpit revolution is in the making. Many of the much ballyhooed, much promised, but little delivered technologies of the 70's and 80's will finally come of age in the 90's just in time to complement the data explosion coming from sensor and processing advances. Technologies such as helmet systems, large flat panel displays, speech recognition, color graphics, decision aiding and stereopsis, are simultaneously reaching technology maturities that promise big payoffs for the third generation cockpit and beyond. The first generation cockpit used round dials to help the pilot keep the airplane flying right side up. The second generation cockpits used multifunction displays and the HUD to interface the pilot with sensors and weapons. What might the third generation cockpit look like? How might it integrate many of these technologies to simplify the pilot's life and most of all: what is the payoff? This paper examines tactical cockpit problems, the technologies needed to solve them and recommend three generations of solutions     

Software replacement of test module adapters for depot instrumentation due to obsolescence

Depot-level automatic test equipment has been used over the years by various facets of both the government and commercial industry. Over time, the instrumentation used in the depot will need to be repaired or replaced and, oftentimes, the older instruments are no longer serviceable or manufactured. This paper discusses how to replace the obsolete instrument and its associated hardware. Test module adapter with a software module and driver that allows compatibility between the original test executive and the modern instrument without re-hosting existing test program sets. Systems & Electronics, Inc. has implemented this procedure for a digitizer and precision DC power supply on a depot that utilizes the IEEE-488 general purpose interface bus (GPIB) for communication between the control computer and instrumentation.     

复合材料制件成形用模具材料研究

复合材料以其优良的性能而在航天、航空领域得到日趋广泛的应用。为满足复合材料成形工艺的特定要求，一些新型模具材料及其制模工艺相继出现。本文对复合材料制件成形模具的特点及国外使用的新型模具材料进行了综述，并对其中的可喷镀的低熔点合金－锌基合金的组分及其热膨胀性能作了初步探讨性研究，以期找出一种可喷镀的低熔点、低热膨胀合金用于复合材料制件成形用模具。     

Are there too many MBAs in aerospace?

As many have intuitively sensed, if not outright admitted to themselves, American corporate society has turned their focus to the bottom line. Do you use Cost-As-an-Independent-Variable (CAIV) to meet the bottom line today so you can live to fight another day? Do you stand on your principles so that, when tomorrow comes, you will be prepared? Can you do both? What happens when you guess wrong? This paper explores the question of management for the bottom line versus management for technical excellence     

如何爱上威士忌

威士忌是真正属于男人的酒,尘世的烟火气味掩饰不了它的天生神韵,如果你从心里接受了它,一生都会是它的信徒,因为它能渗透到你的生命里去。如何鉴别优质威士忌1色泽:拿酒杯时应该捏住杯子的下方杯脚,而不能托着杯壁。因为手指的温度会让杯中的酒发生微妙的变化。在灯光下仔细观察,可以在酒杯的背后衬上一张白纸作为背景。威士忌的颜色有很多种,从深琥珀色到浅琥珀色都有。酒的色泽和威士忌在橡木桶里存放时间的长短密切相关。一般来说,存放时间越长,威士忌的色泽就     

Solidworks与AutoCAD相结合生成渐开线齿轮三维实体模型

Solidworks和AutoCAD已成为许多中小企业的流行设计软件，利用两者的各自优点，能够充分完成企业所需的设计任务。为了提高三维实体模型的精确性和作图效率，介绍了基于当今流行CAD软件AutoCAD和Solidworks的渐开线齿轮三维实体模型的生成方法。首先，通过Autolisp编程生成齿轮样条曲线，然后，利用Solidworks的文件转换功能，生成渐开线齿轮三维实体模型。     

Inertial Technology for the Future

There are many different approaches to inertial instruments-to be useful a concept has to be sound, but success is the fruition of solving myriads of design details. The concept of the electrostatically suspended gyro has been proven to be sound, but the Rockwell and Honeywell designs are quite different. The floated instrument concept is sound, but design details of the North American (now Rockwell) inertial navigator on the Nautilus arctic patrol were quite different from those of the M. I. T. Instrumentation Laboratory (now Draper Laboratory). These are but examples illustrating the many useful inertial instrument technologies in being and point up that not only do different concepts have a place in time and application, but different designs of the same concept often fulfill a need. The future will be no different. A number of leading experts provide short surveys of the principal inertial technologies of today and what is to be expected in the next 25 years. Not all predictions are congruent-like stock market predictions, you are left to decide for yourself.     

航空经济学及面向价值的飞机设计理论与实践

全球化的市场竞争是商用飞机产业的重要特征之一,对安全性、舒适性、经济性和环保性指标的不断追求推动着技术的不断进步及产业链的全球化发展。在飞机设计中,对经济性的考虑在航空技术和型号发展中的作用越来越突出,也是中国航空产业发展面临的重大挑战因素之一。在新技术研发决策及其在型号中的应用中,经济性考虑始终是决策的关键因素,本文综述航了空经济学的研究范畴和主要分析方法,及其对飞机概念设计、结构设计和系统选择等主要决策的影响,面向价值的设计理论和方法在飞机设计中的实践。希望本文的发表可以促进航空经济学的发展,相关方法可以在型号设计的最优综合评价中发挥作用,实现涵盖时间成本在内的综合评价指标最优的方案。可以预期,航空经济学的发展有助于提升中国航空制造业在竞争越来越激烈的全球航空产业链中的竞争力。     

基于IEEE 1394b 总线的存储系统设计

提出了一种基于IEEE 1394 总线的存储系统设计方法,该存储系统是由主机端、传输总线、存储卡 端组成。设计了基于IEEE 1394 总线存储系统的系统架构、硬件环境、IEEE1394 b 协议模型、SBP-2 协议模型、 ATA 块设备驱动模型和文件系统。按该设计实现的存储系统经测试和试验验证证明能实现可靠的数据存储,可 充分发挥IEEE 1394b 总线及SBP2 协议的优势。该设计有效可行,可应用于实际工程项目或作为同类设备研制 的重要参考。     

Integrating VISA, IVI and ATEasy to migrate legacy test systems

New software technologies, such as VISA and IVI, continue to bring the industry toward greater standardization. The benefit to the integrator is reduced costs through reuse of the same hardware and software. The benefit to the customer end-user is lower costs by reducing modification and support through the life-cycle to the test station. However, while we position ourselves for the future with PXI and these software technologies, we must still provide support for VXI, GPIB, and instrument drivers that use current software technologies. Using a number of additional tools such as National Instrument's Measurement and Automation Explorer and Geotest's ATEasy, we can have the power of these tools today while waiting for wider acceptance and support of the newer VISA and IVI technologies. We are just now seeing the development of IVI drivers and the ink is still wet on the VISA specification for PXI. ATEasy provided the structure necessary to use these technologies with the current technology. This paper explores the process of implementing and integrating the system driver and instrument drivers for a PXI-based test station for the TOW2 optical sight sensor.     

Implementing reusable, instrument independent test programs in thefactory

Development of computer programs that control test sequences on Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) is costly and time consuming. Test Programs are usually written by specifying the instruments to be used in the ATE and the sequence of the setup and measurement parameters for these instruments. Reuse of test program software on other ATE is usually not possible without rewriting, revalidating and re-releasing the programs. This paper describes an implementation of a test program software development system and a standard of software runtime architecture used in our factories. The object-oriented development environment and its associated class libraries allow test programs to be written without knowledge of the ATE on which they will be run. Two main principles guided the design: the software architecture was based on recognized formal and industry standards; and our implementation used commercial off-the-shelf software products when possible. Emerging standards such as the IEEE-1226 (ABBET) as well as defacto industry standards including VXI Plug and Play have made our implementation possible. The current draft of the ABBET and P&P standards do not promote this instrument independence, but it is hoped that this will be added as the standards mature. Three immediate benefits are: cost savings that result from reusing validated test programs; cycle time reductions that result from concurrently developing test program software and ATE; and software defect reductions that result from using proven software     

Future Directions in Automation and Robotics for Manufacturing

The current emphasis on designing flexible manufacturing systems, particularly in the electronics manufacturing industry, is bringing automation and robotics technologies to the factory at increasing rates. The rate of advance in these technologies raises serious concerns among engineers and managers about how to proceed in building modern manufacturing systems. A large portion of this uncertainty results from the difficulty of fitting technological advances into the existing models of manufacturing. What is needed is a new framework within which to perceive automation and robotics which will permit the adoption of more encompassing design strategies and principles to be followed in the practice of modernizing and maintaining advanced electronics manufacturing systems. This paper provides a framework that might be adopted to structure new strategies for incorporating automation and robotics in manufacturing. The approach is one that we at SRI have found useful in considering automation and robotics issues for the NASA Space Station and other complex systems which need to incorporate new technologies throughout long lifetimes. These same issues are becoming increasingly important in electronics manufacturing system design and development.     

基于天地一体化信息网络的智能航空客运系统

计算机小型化、物联网、无线宽带通信、人工智能技术近年来发展迅速,对社会产生了巨大影响,作为使能技术,其在航空上的应用将对飞机设计、飞机飞行和维修保障等领域产生革命性的变革。未来的飞机将具有强大的信息智能感知和处理能力,依托天地一体化信息网络实现多维度物联,并结合智能地面系统,共同完成智能飞行、智能维护和智能运营等业务流程。本文总结了上述新技术的发展现状及其航空应用前景,提出了基于天地一体化信息网络的智能航空客运系统的概念,设计了系统架构,描绘了典型应用场景,识别了关键技术并指出了面临的挑战。研究成果有助于飞机制造商更好地设计面向未来的智能飞机,也有助于航空公司对智能飞机进行高效的运营和管理。     

In-flight entertainment-getting from wishlist to reality

Much of what we see in the consumer electronics stores will eventually find its way into airplanes in the form of In-Flight Entertainment (IFE). This consumer electronic equipment is often referred to as “the leading edge of technology”. Unfortunately, that same equipment that is the “leading edge” of consumer electronics, often stalls to feel like the “bleeding edge” when you try to integrate it into IFE systems for today's modern aircraft. Unlike Avionics Systems, the technologies behind IFE equipment are not usually mature before they are integrated into the aircraft. What may work well in a home environment, may not work well at all in the aircraft environment. Often this problem results in last minute redesign in an effort to make the equipment function as intended on the aircraft. Both the FAA and the aircraft manufacturer impose many requirements on the suppliers and products of IFE. Systems need to be designed for the aircraft environment. Many variations on IFE Systems have forced the creation of new standards for integration into commercial aircraft. Power, cooling, and EMC issues are becoming more of a concern as we move to fill aircraft implementations. Beyond the technical evaluations and lab/aircraft testing, one key component is customer satisfaction. This paper will cover some of the methods and tools we use to get IFE from wishlist to reality     

Using built-in-test to reduce TPS run times and improve TPSreliability

This paper addresses using information derived from Built-in-Test (BIT) to fault diagnose Units Under Test (UUTs), wherever possible. This philosophic approach to diagnostic testing is not new. It has been studied over the past 20 years under the visor of “Integrated Diagnostics”, but it has yet to be truly implemented in a “real life” military diagnostic test environment. The mindset of Test Program Set design engineering, along with customer and contractor management alike, remains “complete diagnostic testing based upon single catastrophic component failure modes”. If we are to generate cost efficient Test Program Sets (TPSs) under reduced military budget constraints, this will have to change! The test engineer must be encouraged to use methodologies to speed up development time and decrease TPS run times. Using present technology, this is possible now, and as the technology matures, will become a truly viable approach in the future. For the purpose of this paper, the author relies heavily on his extensive US Navy Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) and Test Program Set (TPS) experience, as well as on previous studies performed on using BIT to fault diagnose Unit Under Test failures on US Naval Air weapon systems