Instrumentation Support Systems Smart Transducer Plugins

Newer, smart transducers that conform to the IEEE 1451 standards will be used in new and legacy Instrumentation Support Systems (ISS)s allowing the ISSs to know exactly what is available on a test vehicle and also the coordination of the instrumentation setup, ground station setup, full pre-test checkout and dynamic error correction. Changes in the operational scenarios of ISS as a consequence of transitioning to smart transducers will be researched and investigated. Smart transducer standards will be evaluated such as the IEEE 1451 (including the IEEE 1451.3 of which the author of this proposal was a member of the working committee) and the different ISSs such as Illiad, VISTA, OMEGA, etc. A set of tools ("plugins"), both hardware and software will be designed for these support systems to maximize the benefits of smart transducers. The author of the Illiad system, EMC Corporation will be available as a subcontractor to assist in the development and integration of the software tools. Handheld devices to allow reading and writing information to smart transducers will be investigated such as the use of a PDA with an RF link to the sensor system similar to the one currently being developed for data acquisition by NVE.