New Product Demonstrations at Sea Air Space Conference 2014

At the 2014 Sea Air Space Show in Maryland, April 7 – 9, United Electronic Industries (UEI) will demonstrate the newly released DNR-MIL and DNA-Mil Data Acquisition and Embedded Control Chassis. These Mil-Grade platforms are ruggedized, performance optimized, designed to meet key elements of MIL-STD-461/810/1275 and guaranteed to withstand 5 g vibration and 100 g shock for the most environmentally challenging I/O applications.

The 2014 Sea Air Space Exposition will be held on April 7-9 at the Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, MD.

Configurable as either a stand-alone or computer-hosted system, these I/O test and embedded control instruments are 100% COTS solutions, meaning they are modular and customizable for handling any analog, digital, interface, sensor/transducer input or output. Their rugged IP66/NEMA6 sealed chassis allow for in-field deployments without any additional enclosure or protection required.

For long-life I/O systems like Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) and VME-based systems that will soon face end-of-life availability issues, UEI guarantees at least 10 years of post-purchase product availability. Extensive software support includes all popular OS, RTOS and DAQ (data acquisition) applications, including Linux, VxWorks, Windows, MATLAB, Simulink, QNX and RTX to name a few.

The new DNA-MIL and
DNR-MIL platforms are designed for MIL-STD-461/810/1275
compliance and for environmentally harsh I/O acquisition and control applications.

Much like it’s predecessor systems, the DNX-MIL products are made in the USA and supported by UEI’s extensive line of of analog, digital and interface I/O boards for thermocouples, RTDs, ICP/IEPE, ARINC-429, AFDX, MIL-STD-1553, CANbus, RVDT/LVDT, synchro/resolver, RS 232/422/485 strain gauge, quadrature encoder, high-voltage analog outputs, high drive current, analog inputs up to 24-bits, arbitrary waveform generation and much more.

For the most robust I/O connectivity with on-board Built-In-Test (BIT) diagnostics to ensure maximum uptime and failsafe operation, the DNx-MIL Chassis can’t be beat.  Give us a call for more details.

Common DAQ Communication Interfaces

In an earlier post we covered the ARINC-429 bus for avionics data communications. Today lets look at the MIL-STD-1553 bus used in military and aerospace applications and the CAN-bus used in automotive applications.

MIL-STD-1553
MIL-STD-1553 is the military’s equivalent to ARINC-429, though structurally it is very different. The first and most obvious difference is that 1553 links are typically designed with dual, redundant channels. Though commercial aircraft don’t usually get wires cut by bullets or flak, military aircraft are typically designed such that a single cut wire or wiring harness won’t cause a loss of system control.

MIL-STD-1553 Bus Architecture

If you are looking to “hook” to a MIL-1553 device, be sure your interface has both channels. Also, a MIL-1553 device can serve as Bus Controller, Bus Monitor, or Remote Terminal. Not all interfaces support all three functions. Be sure the interface you select has the capability you require. As with the ARINC-429 bus, when operating as a bus controller, the unit must be capable of detailed transmission scheduling (including major and minor frame timing) and this is best per-formed in hardware rather than via software timing.

CAN
The CAN (Controller Area Network) bus is the standard communications interface for automotive and truck systems. Gone are the days when your car was controlled by mechanical linkages, gears, and high current switches. Your transmission now shifts gears based on CAN commands sent from a computer. Even such things as raising/lowering the windows and adjusting the outside rearview mirror are frequently no longer done via simple switches, but are now done via CAN sensors and actuators. Vehicle speed, engine RPM, transmission gear selection, even internal temperature are all available on the CAN bus.

As with the ARINC-429 aircraft example, when running tests in a car or truck, it’s very useful to be able to coordinate the data available on the various CAN networks with any more conventional DAQ measurement you may be making. If you are measuring internal vibration, you’ll want to coordinate it with Engine RPM and speed (among other things). Like any data acquisition system, one of the first things you need to be aware of when specifying a CAN interface system is how many CAN ports you will need. There are sometimes 50 or more different CAN networks in a given vehicle. Be sure your system has enough channels to grab all the data you still need. The CAN specification supports data rates up to 1 megabaud. Be sure the system you specify is capable of matching the speed of the network you wish to monitor.

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When form, fit & function matter to Ethernet-based measurement and control

Control and automation engineers use real-time Ethernet to create high-density distributed I/O measurement and control systems. Such platforms are constantly evolving in form, fit and function to accommodate various application needs, including those related to footprint and workspace requirements. Fortunately for these engineers, there’s a plethora of different systems, models and configurations from which to choose for bench-top I/O, highly integrated workstations, and data/control center (rack-mount) projects.

For data/control center applications that require a standard 1U rack-mountable solution, the choices have been limited…that is until now!

Check out this new Ethernet-based measurement and control system platform. The DNF-4-1G FLATRACK™ is a highly integrated, low-profile (1U) chassis providing access to a wide array of I/O including analog, digital, avionics, communications and more. The 6” x 1.75” x 17.5” unit was developed in response to key customer requests for a 1U version of the company’s RACKtangle™.

Designed for a variety of high-density applications that cannot tolerate external signal conditioning, the FLATRACK provides two Gigabit Ethernet (100/10 Base-T compatible) interfaces and four front-loading slots that allow I/O boards to be quickly and easily installed, retrofitted or removed. The Flat-RACK plays host to dual-channel NICs, a PowerPC CPU, two USB 2.0 controller/slave ports, timing/trigger interface circuitry, configuration ports, power supply and operational software – all in a standard 1U (6″ x 1.75″ x 17.5″) rack-mountable chassis.

The beauty of the FLATRACK is its configurable versatility for deployment as a high-density Power DNA (Distributed Networked Automation) system, Programmable Automation/Embedded Controller, MODBUS TCP interface, or a Simulink I/O platform. These high-density I/O deployments require precise, real-world measurement and control capabilities. The FLATRACK’s PowerDNA® (Distributed Networked Automation) architecture hosts a rugged, Ethernet-based data acquisition (DAQ) interface, ideally suited for various industrial, aerospace and laboratory data acquisition and control environments. A MODBUS messaging protocol is used to establish master-slave/client-server communication between devices that measure voltage, current, strain gages, thermocouples and more. The UEIPAC (Programmable Automation Controller) is nicely suited for embedded data acquisition (DAQ) applications, as it allows systems to be developed without the cost or the additional space required by an external host computer.

Finally, UEISIM offers Simulink developers a powerful and flexible I/O target. Models built in Simulink are deployed directly on the UEISIM using Real-Time Workshop to create, for example, an efficient tuning solution for real-time and non-real-time applications, including simulation model verification, rapid prototyping, and hardware-in-the-loop testing. With I/O interfaces for analog I/O, digital I/O, counter/timer, ARINC-429 and ARINC-664, MIL-STD-1553, quadrature encoder, CAN-bus, serial I/O and more, the DNF-4-1G FLATRACK stands protocol-ready.

Contact UEI Sales for a demonstration.

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