Architecture for Experimental Research and Operational Data Acquisition Control (AERODAC)

The Test and Evaluation of new military and commercial hardware and software systems demand Data Acquisition and Control resources capable of supporting high performance measurement, analysis and display requirements of new systems. To support this need, Bihrle Applied Research Inc. (BAR) has developed AERODAC, a reconfigurable software and hardware framework for test execution and data acquisition – a fully customizable, scalable, cross-platform DAC solution. AERODAC leverages the real-time power of the EtherCAT protocol for deterministic hardware control & acquisition of critical data integrating the MATLAB platform for post processing, supervisory analysis and display activities. These technologies have been integrated into a seamless development environment using web-based tools allowing users worldwide to access data and control hardware. This application, having been integrated in a commercial test facility, is proposed to be configured to satisfy the need to update an obsolescent military data acquisition systems in the Multi Axis Test (MAT) rig in the Air Force Research Lab’s Vertical Wind tunnel. The demanding test capability in this facility requires complex motion control synchronized with data acquisition. This Phase II proposes the integration of the AERODAC software in order to update the facility and evolve the software for further application in other test facilities.