Traditional flight test sensing applications require installation of not only the sensor but also supporting cabling and interfacing infrastructure. The cost of this supporting infrastructure increases when it must cross pressure vessel boundaries, extend long distances, or interfere with operation of the aircraft. The continuing cost and schedule pressures on flight test programs demand approaches that minimize installation complexity and reduce the need to modify the aircraft under test. Some emerging approaches have leveraged wireless techniques for data transmission but this can only be used in certain circumstances and does not address the problem of power distribution. This paper describes ongoing research into alternative sensing approaches that utilize a mix of video processing, distributed processing, and power harvesting to provide additional solutions.

The growth of network and distributed technologies in flight test instrumentation (FTI) has provided the benefits of flexibility, scalability, and compatibility with prevalent computing capabilities. However, to achieve these capabilities, the complexity of each piece of FTI and the overall system has increased dramatically. Even with systems composed of equipment from a single vendor, it is important to have management systems that provide the flexibility to adapt quickly to various system configurations and present unified information to the flight test users. The growth of network technologies and then standardized approaches such as iNET standards becoming accepted IRIG 106 standards is leading to the growth of multi-vendor systems. These multi-vendor systems further increase the need for rapidly reconfigurable management systems. This paper describes a constraints engine we have developed to enable flexible system management systems and reflects on how these techniques have been used successfully in the iNET System Manager.

Configuring flight test systems can be a complex process due to the large number of choices that must be made. Making these choices requires system knowledge to build a working configuration in an efficient and timely manner. Historically, flight test systems have embedded this system knowledge in code. The limitation with these approaches is that any change or addition to the system knowledge is costly due to the significant work required to update and maintain the software. We see the philosophy of constraints as a promising path toward addressing these issues. In the context of flight test configuration, a set of constraints defines the limits of how a system may be configured to perform specific tasks. This paper describes an approach for simplifying configuration by moving the system knowledge out of hardcoded business rules and into a flexible architecture that leverages constraints for validation of system configurations.

Demonstration of spanwise-periodic discrete roughness element laminar flow control (DRE LFC) technology at operationally relevant flight regimes requires extremely stable flow conditions in flight. A balance must be struck between the capabilities of the host aircraft and the scientific apparatus. A safe, effective, and efficient flight experiment is described to meet the test objectives, a flight test technique is designed to gather research-quality data, flight characteristics are analyzed for data compatibility, and an experiment is designed for data collection and analysis. The objective is to demonstrate DRE effects in a flight environment relevant to transport-category aircraft: [0.67 – 0.75] Mach number and [17.0M – 27.5M] Reynolds number. Within this envelope, flight conditions are determined which meet evaluation criteria for minimum lift coefficient and crossflow transition location. The angle of attack data band is determined, and the natural laminar flow characteristics are evaluated. Finally, DRE LFC technology is demonstrated in the angle of attack data band at the specified flight conditions. Within the angle of attack data band, a test angle of attack must be maintained with a tolerance of ± 0.1° for 15 seconds. A flight test technique is developed that precisely controls angle of attack. Lateral-directional stability characteristics of the host aircraft are exploited to manipulate the position of flight controls near the wing glove. Directional control inputs are applied in conjunction with lateral control inputs to achieve the desired flow conditions. The data are statistically analyzed in a split-plot factorial that produces a system response model in six variables: angle of attack, Mach number, Reynolds number, DRE height, DRE spacing, and the surface roughness of the leading edge. Predictions on aircraft performance are modeled to enable planning tools for efficient flight research while still producing statistically rigorous flight data. The Gulfstream IIB aircraft is determined to be suitable for a laminar flow control wing glove experiment using a low-bank-angle-turn flight test technique to enable precise, repeatable data collection at stabilized flight conditions. Analytical angle of attack models and an experimental design were generated to ensure efficient and effective flight research.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 20-23, 2003 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / In a study sponsored by the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California, Toyon Research Corporation, Goleta, California, demonstrated that shaped pattern antennas could be used to mitigate interference caused by telemetry signals on GPS systems. Using a technique for fixed reception pattern antenna (FRPA) design, Toyon built and tested a GPS antenna that minimizes reception of telemetry signals from a known location.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 20-23, 2003 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / This paper discusses ongoing regulatory effects on efforts aimed at developing data infrastructures that assist test engineers in achieving information superiority and for maintaining their information, and on possible architectural frameworks for resolving the engineer’s need versus the regulatory requirements. Since current commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems are targeted primarily at business environments such as back office applications, financial sectors, and manufacturing, these COTS systems do not provide sufficient focus for managing the unique aspects of flight test data and associated artifacts (documents, drawings, pretest data, etc.). This paper presents our ongoing efforts for deploying a storage infrastructure independent enterprise data management system for maintaining vital up-to-date information and for managing the archival of such data.

ITC/USA 2008 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Fourth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 27-30, 2008 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California / Network-based telemetry systems are increasingly being used to improve the flexibility and longevity of flight test systems. Modern network-based flight test systems utilize large numbers of devices including high-speed network switches, data acquisition devices, recorders, and telemetry interfaces, all of which must be managed in a coordinated fashion. The move to network-based testing provides the ability to build a standards-based System Management interface which can status and control a diverse set of devices. The benefits include the ability to easily tailor System Management tools to support many different styles of user interactions and to quickly integrate new types of devices. While the new capabilities presented by System Management are exciting, the very openness of the system presents challenges to ensure that future growth will be seamlessly supported. This paper will discuss issues encountered while implementing flight test System Management tools for a network-based telemetry system.

ITC/USA 2008 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Fourth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 27-30, 2008 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California / The Integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry (iNET) Project established a standards working group to address the integrated management of telemetry network systems and to ensure interoperability among various pieces of equipment. The group has been studying the benefits and drawbacks of various system management technologies with the goal of identifying a set of management interfaces which will provide long-range benefit to a large and diverse telemetry test system. This paper discusses control, configuration, status, performance, and fault management. It addresses these from several viewpoints such as multi-test articles, multi-ranges, and dynamic test environments.

ITC/USA 2008 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Fourth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 27-30, 2008 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California / ARINC 664 presents the designers of data acquisition systems challenges not previously seen on other aircraft avionic buses. Among the biggest challenges are providing the test instrumentation system with the capacity to process two redundant Ethernet segments that may be carrying packet traffic at near wire-line speed. To achieve this level of performance, the hardware and software must not only perform mundane operations, like time stamping and simple virtual link MAC filtering, but also need to implement core ARINC 664 functions like redundancy management and integrity checking. Furthermore, other TCP/IP operations, such as IP header checksum, must also be offloaded to the hardware in order to maintain real-time operation. This paper describes the implementation path followed by TTC during its development of an ARINC 664 network monitor used in a large commercial aircraft flight test program.

ITC/USA 2007 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Third Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2007 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Network-based instrumentation systems are rapidly replacing traditional fixed serial interconnected instrumentation in both commercial and military flight test environments. Modern network-based flight test systems are composed of large numbers of devices including high-speed network switches, data acquisition devices, recorders, telemetry interfaces, and wireless network transceivers, all of which must be managed in a coordinated fashion. Management of the network system includes configuring, controlling, and monitoring the health and status of the various devices. Configuration by hand is not a realistic option, so algorithms for automatic management must be implemented to make these systems economical and practical. This paper describes the issues that must be addressed for managing network-based flight test systems and describes a network management approach that was developed and employed to manage a large-scale network-based flight test system.