TEST & MEASUREMENT FEATURE
Elevating testing of the world’s most cost-effective
FIGHTER PLANE S
aab recently needed to find a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
solution to replace its custom system for interfacing to line-replaceable units (LRUs) in Saab Aeronautics simulators. The company reduced cost and ensured
maximum flexibility by joining National Instruments (NI) in piloting its Switch Load and Signal Conditioning (SLSC) system, rather than developing a custom system to interface to the preferred CompactRIO and PXI-based systems. Saab serves the global market with
leading products, services, and solutions for industries from military defence to civil security. It prides itself on being the world’s most cost-effective, high-tech defence and security company. In the Aeronautics Division, located in Linköping, Sweden, the Gripen Fighter System is a key product. The Gripen is a unique fighter concept that balances excellent operational performance, sophisticated technology, industrial partnership, and cost efficiency in a single, smart multirole fighter system. Saab are currently developing a new
addition to the Gripen family, the Gripen E. This plane will feature the
Saab recently joined forces with National Instruments to pilot its Switch Load and Signal Conditioning system. Here, Anders Tunströmer of Saab Aeronautics explains more about the partnership and how it is helping the company develop a new addition to the Gripen Fighter System family
latest avionics technology, improved radar systems, and more advanced communication of important combat information between fighters.
THE HIL APPLICATION To help develop the fighters, Saab are building simulators and rigs for its hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) systems to test various Gripen line-replaceable units (LRUs). These LRUs include flight control systems, tactical systems, sensors, and other avionics equipment. In the company’s most complex tests, up to 40 interconnected LRUs must be tested together. Saab began looking for a suitable commercial off-the-shelf product to use as an I/O system in its HIL systems and selected the NI PXI and CompactRIO platforms because they are both modular and easy to expand. This is advantagous for the company’s systems, which often have many different signal types. Saab built its HIL system based on several CompactRIO systems, controlled using LabVIEW, in which it can easily add more CompactRIO devices when required. An HIL system lets Saab check that the LRUs work as expected by simulating
/ INSTRUMENTATION
the real-world environment it would run in. This lets the company run many LRU tests without putting a fighter in the sky, which can be costly and potentially dangerous. In its HIL system, Saab uses the CompactRIO to produce simulated signals for the LRU and receive the output from the unit.
SLSC System at Saab
SWITCHING, LOADS AND SIGNAL CONDITIONING To make the system specific to Saab’s application the company needed custom
INSTRUMENTATION | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018
31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
