BAE Systems is a British multinational defence, security, and aerospace company. To support their aircraft supplied worldwide, they provide a support package, modelled and tailored for each individual customer. Within this support package, is a second line testing solution that is used to conduct standard serviceability tests on the Line Replacement Units (LRU’s) removed from the aircraft. These component parts have mainly remained stable throughout the life of the aircraft, with only a few minor obsolescence changes have taken place.

The Problem. The current testing solution is now suffering from obsolescence however to the extent that BAE Systems have sought a new modern solution.

The Solution. The intention is to supply a bespoke fixture to serve as a dedicated test bench and act as a supply source to carry out all the necessary tests, taking the support package forward over the next 25 years.

Managing Updates

Key Issues and Proposed Solutions

What risk does the engine update have to previously completed LRU tests? Risk has been minimised by validation testing on over 95% of test routes on the rig since 23/01/19. There will also be a checklist of manual validation checks and normal process daily test development.

What LRU’s are affected by the engine update? To fit the new rudder control requirements on the existing FPGA hardware a refactoring of low-level channel control was required, which is easily validated. There is also a requirement to change the milliamp current output control for the autostablisation function of the rudder.

Can the pending engine update be rolled back to remove the rudder test updates without affecting LRU’s recently completed? This could possibly pose more risk than using the latest engine build we can do this by retesting the new plugin, developed for use with recent LRUs. Also fault reports have been corrected and verified in the latest build and several requested features to assist the operator in running tests have been included in the latest build.

What is the level of software risk or implications to all systems and LRU software? As discussed previously but also to increase confidence there is a further recommendation to re-test a small selection of older LRU’s to cover a range of functions.

Results

With the delivery of the updated system, CCS also provided them with a Post-Delivery Support Scheme for future updates and possible issues.

Similar Projects

• Test Rig Upgrades for a variety of rigs including a load cell tester, hydraulic test rigs and pressure rigs.
• Aerospace Projects including a wide range of test rigs, data acquisition systems and control interfaces, various aerospace components.

Contact

Ian Billingsley

Certified LabView Architect at CCS

Lead Software Developer on Project

Tel: +44 (0)1926 485532 Ext:105

Email: ian@ccsln.com