MODULAR AFFORDABLE GPS/INS (MAGI)

Abstract

The GPS/INS equipment is used at the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) to collect time space position information (TSPI) during testing. The GPS-based test instrumentation is lagging behind available commercial technologies. Advancing technologies for test use requires investigation of affordable commercial equipment. To enable technology insertion for state of the art testing, there is a need for more robust, flexible, reliable, modular, affordable low cost TSPI systems capable of operating in all flight environments. Modular (plug-and-play) hardware and software, quick and easy to re-configure, are required for supporting various test platforms from fighter aircraft to cargo size aircraft. Flight testing dynamics are such that, GPS-only systems tend to lose data during critical maneuvers. To minimize this data loss, inertial measurement systems coupled with GPS sensors are used in most sophisticated range instrumentation packages. However, these packages have required fairly expensive inertial units, are usually very large and not very flexible in terms of quick and easy reconfiguration to meet the unique needs of AFFTC’s test customers. WADDAN SYSTEMS has begun to address this problem with a modular design concept, which incorporates their high-performance navigation quality inertial measurement unit, but with costs comparative to that of lower-end performance inertial units. This paper describes WADDAN’s concept and the components that make up MAGI; and addresses some of the preliminary testing and near-term proposed activities. In general, the system will provide GPS, inertial and discrete MIL-STD 1553, RS-232/422 and video data from the participant. The MAGI will be structured around the Compact personal computer interface (PCI) backplane bus with on-board recording and processing and will include real-time command and control through a UHF data link.