Programs
NAI’s products are used worldwide in some of the most renowned Land, Sea and Air
programs in the Aerospace and Defense Industries. Outlined below are programs which
highlight the design capabilities of North Atlantic Industries.
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AC – 130U Gunship
Government requirements were to deliver form, fit and functional replacement ECU
(Electronic Control Unit) and LWCP (Loader Weapon Control Panel) designs that maintained
or exceeded the performance of the obsolete legacy equipment. The LWCP provides
user interface for gunner control of the 40mm and 105mm weapons on the Gunship.
The ECU takes the Mission Computer commanded position and senses feedback on actual
gun position to control the dynamic aiming of the AC-130U Trainable Gun Mounts.
The customer, SSAI (Support Systems Association, Inc.), chose NAI’s 3U CompactPCI
technology, including A/D,
D/A,
Synchro/LVDT Measurement,
MIL-STD-1553,
RS422 functions;
highly programmable discrete I/O; Analog Devices’ SBC, and power supplies (55LQ2)
in each box—a solution that “exceeded size, weight, power and cost requirements
and improved the overall accuracy of the Gunship—resulting in real benefits to USAF
war fighters,” said Cliff Driver, SSAI VP of Operations.
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M60A3 Main Battle Tank
The M60A3 Integrated Fire Control System (IFCS) provides the tank with the ability
to acquire and track both stationary and mobile targets while the tank is on the
move. Two of NAI's DC/DC converters (55GS1
and 55KT1) power the IFCS electronics. These rugged conduction cooled designs meet
the requirements of MIL-STD-461, 704 and 810. The customer reviewed the complete
costs of assembling their own solutions using a module-based approach and decided
that our one-box, "mount, connect and go" solutions provided an overall lower-cost
solution. In addition, the program utilizes an NAI DC/AC Sine Inverter (44KS1-01)
to power a gyro. The customer experienced power fluctuations while using another
supplier's product. In less than a month, NAI submitted a design for a form, fit
and function replacement solution, and subsequently received the customer's order.
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Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
Due to tight size constraints, the system designers needed an integrated Pulse Width
Modulation (PWM), motor drive control and associated power supply for its FLIR (Forward
Looking Infrared Radar)—and they needed it fast. NAI's Power Supply and Multi-function
I/O Board Divisions worked together under a very tight design schedule to deliver
a power supply and a dual-channel, VME PWM motor control card. The power supply
absorbs peak current, and is interconnected to the motor control board via a serial
interface. If there is a malfunction on the motor control board, the power supply
shuts down. The Engineering team at NAI was able to execute with exceptional turnaround
time—from concept to production in less than six months.
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LHD 8 Amphibious Assault Ship
One of the design challenges on this 844 foot ship was managing the signals generated
by over 12,000 transducers. Designers of the LHD 8 electronics chose North Atlantic's
VME Intelligent Multifunction card (64C1)
and serial communications card (64RS2)
to integrate A/D conversion, D/A conversion, serial communications, RTD, and 4-20ma
signals onto the VME bus. Through the use of the NAI products, designers reduced
card count by 50%, cutting costs, system size, weight and power consumption of the
system. In addition, the extensive test and diagnostics capabilities of the
64C1 improved system maintainability by providing the ability to trace faults
to the card, module, and channel level, and to identify signal interface faults
such as open lines and undefined range.
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