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Development of the Flight Guidance, Navigation,
& Control System requires an understanding of
the mission objectives and of how the FGN&C
system must be designed to achieve these
objectives-- for both hardware & software. The
FCS requirements will be established from the
mission objectives and from other applicable
regulating sources (MIL Specs, FAA, JAA, ...).
Trade studies will be performed to evaluate cost
and technical feasibility-- from this, options will
be selected and architectures will be formulated.
Models will then be developed. Analysis and
Simulation techniques will then be used to design
the FCS control algorithms and develop the 6-DOF
simulation. Once the control algorithms have been
design and validated with the 6-DOF,
hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) test & evaluation
can begin-- near term this entails evaluating how
the 6-DOF simulation flys the FCS hardware-- long
term this entails migrating the FCS software from
the 6-DOF into the appropriate FCS hardware units.
Testing for requirements compliance is performed
throughout the entire process. As each FCS hardware
unit has been successfully completed the HITL test
& eval phase, development of the configured
equipment is finalized. At this point, the
configured equipment can be installed into the
aircraft and tested. Functional, Ground, and Flight
testing is used to V&V the FCS on the aircraft.
Qualification/ Certification testing is used to
validate that the aircraft with the installed FCS
meets the necessary requirements.
Seem complicated? It can be. But to minimize the
cost and development of the FCS, it is essentially
what must be done. This process, however, can be
streamlined in many different ways-- maintaining
those things that must be done, while cutting out
chunks of costs and time.
Are you currently involved in an FCS development
program? Have you got everything under control?
Would you like to reduce costs and cut some time
out of your program? We may be able to help.
A diagram of a typical Flight GN&C
Analysis/Simulation/HITL Process is summarized
below. Enjoy.
Note: To provide the
necessary detail & maintain the flow, scrolling
may be required. Sorry for any inconveniences.
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