RIDGETOP GROUP WILL LEVERAGE ITS PROVEN ELECTROMECHANICAL ACTUATOR (EMA) PROGNOSTICS METHODOLOGY TO DEVELOP…

Public award description

RIDGETOP GROUP WILL LEVERAGE ITS PROVEN ELECTROMECHANICAL ACTUATOR (EMA) PROGNOSTICS METHODOLOGY TO DEVELOP AN ADVANCED MODEL-BASED ACTUATOR PROGNOSTIC REASONER (MAPR). RIDGETOP'S CONCEPT IS A SELF-CONTAINED, EMBEDDED PROGNOSTIC REASONER WITH A PASSIVE CONNECTION TO COMMON AVIONIC DATA BUSSES. BY MONITORING ACTUATOR HEALTH IN REAL TIME AND PROVIDING EARLY WARNING OF INCIPIENT FAULT CONDITIONS, THE PROPOSED MAPR WOULD ENABLE CONDITION BASED MAINTENANCE (CBM) OF CRITICAL AVIONIC FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEMS AND SUPPORT SAFER, MORE RELIABLE NEXT GENERATION AIR TRANSPORTATION. THE NOVEL APPROACH WILL EFFECTIVELY DECOUPLE THE PASSIVE PROGNOSTIC REASONER FROM THE TARGET FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM, OR ACTUATOR, AND WILL SUPPORT MULTIPLE AVIONIC DATA BUS INTERFACES, SUCH AS MIL-STD-1553, EASING ADOPTION, VALIDATION, INTEGRATION, AND SUPPORT. POTENTIALLY, A SINGLE MAPR COULD MONITOR MULTIPLE FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEMS, REDUCING OVERALL SENSOR COSTS. FURTHERMORE, AN EMBEDDED MAPR IMPLEMENTATION WITH FIELD UPGRADEABLE FIRMWARE WOULD SUPPORT EVOLVING INTERFACE STANDARDS AND PROGNOSTIC HEALTH MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES. FINALLY, THE PROPOSED MAPR ARCHITECTURE IS IDEALLY SUITED FOR HARDWARE-IN-THE-LOOP (HIL) TESTING, WHICH DRAMATICALLY ACCELERATES TECHNOLOGY READINESS AND COMMERCIAL INTRODUCTION.