The IMASAT consortium has developed a smaller, lighter and more powerful on-board computer compared to current systems on the market, which improves the Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) concept for aircraft with 6 to 19 passengers.
This system is the result of 4 years of research within the framework of the IMASAT (Integrated Modular Avionics for Small Air Transport) project, led by the Spanish company and co-financed by the Clean Sky 2 programme, in which the Málaga-based company Clue Technologies, a specialist in the manufacture of electronic systems for the aerospace industry, has also participated.
Work is currently underway with the Italian aircraft manufacturer Piaggio Aerospace to implement this new technology, which will increase aircraft safety and efficiency, and reduce the weight of avionics systems, maintenance operations and pilot workload.
AERTEC, the international engineering company specialising in technologies applied to aeronautics, has led the European IMASAT (Integrated Modular Avionics for Small Air Transport) project for the last four years, with CLUE Technologies. as a partner. This research has focused on the development of more efficient technologies in the area of systems for aircraft between 6 and 19 passengers (SAT, Small Air Transport), a market that the Clean Sky 2 initiative aims to boost in the future.
Specifically, a smaller, lighter and more powerful onboard computer has been developed, designed for all types of interfaces required by a small transport aircraft, thus improving the concept of Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA). The project’s research work has focused on the design, manufacture, verification and validation of the new computer node, so that it can be used as a flight control element in this SAT segment, providing a new approach to the architecture, design, software, production and certification of a new concept of integrated modular avionics.
The Spanish engineering company has been in charge of both the hardware design of the equipment and the onboard software and is now in the final phase of environmental testing. To carry out the IMASAT project, AERTEC has worked with the Málaga-based company Clue Technologies, a specialist in the manufacture of electronic systems for the aerospace industry.
‘We have achieved a significant reduction in size, weight and costs in the on-board computer compared to the systems currently on the market,’ says Rafael Ortiz, Head of AERTEC’s Aerospace and Defence Systems Area. This technology is intended to enable the European aeronautical industry to adopt fly-by-wire (FBW) systems to reduce the weight of avionics systems, reduce maintenance operations and increase aircraft safety by also improving the human-machine interface, reducing the workload for pilots.’
According to Jon Gonzalez of Clue Technologies, ‘Clue’s research and development efforts throughout IMASAT have allowed us to evolve our WittyBox family Knife architecture, resulting in a fully operational demonstrator in laboratory conditions and a simulated operating environment. The result is a flexible, secure, small and affordable computing platform, suitable for use as an innovative flight control computer for small aircraft thanks to significantly increased processing capabilities and high-speed interfaces.’
Work is underway with the Italian manufacturer Piaggio Aerospace to implement this new technology in its aircraft. Thanks to IMASAT, the European SAT industry has the opportunity to develop the first avionics system based entirely on European technologies, which would have important strategic advantages.
About AERTEC
AERTEC is an international company specialising in aerospace technology that will be 25 years old in 2022 and is active in the aerospace, defence and airport industries. It is a Tier 1 supplier of engineering services for AIRBUS in all its divisions: Commercial, Helicopters, Defence and Space, in the different centres that AIRBUS has worldwide. Its participation in the world’s major aeronautical programmes, such as the A400M, A330MRTT, A350XWB, A320, Beluga and the C295, among others, is noteworthy.
It designs onboard systems for aircraft, unmanned aerial platforms, and guidance solutions for both civil and military applications. It has light tactical UAS of its design and technology, such as TARSIS 75 and TARSIS 25, for observation and surveillance applications, and support for military operations. It also designs, manufactures and deploys systems for the digitalisation of work environments and automation of functional tests, under the global concept of the smart factory.
In airports, it is positioned as the most aeronautical engineering company, intervening in the study of investment, planning and design, consultancy in airport operation and the improvement of processes in the terminal area and airfield. It has references in more than 160 airports in more than 40 countries on five continents.
It employs a team of more than 600 professionals and has registered companies in Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Colombia, Peru, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
About CLUE Technologies
Clue Technologies is a Spanish SME founded in 2013, well known for its innovative electronic systems for the aerospace sector. The company dedicates 90% of its resources to R&D to develop the world’s most powerful avionics computers to host a new generation of intelligent software applications. It has a multidisciplinary team of computer, electronic, mechanical and systems engineers with extensive experience in the sector. The main areas of expertise are the development of embedded electronic systems, development of ARP 4754A/DO-178C/ DO-254 avionics systems, hardware design, embedded software development, development of firmware and kernel software and embedded application software, development of Soft IP for FPGA, Artificial Intelligence inference, Big Data systems, cybersecurity, agile development and rapid prototyping, DevOps and continuous integration.
Clue also covers the entire life cycle of its products in Spain: research, requirements capture, system definition, hardware and software design, manufacturing, qualification and certification. As such, it is the only integral avionics developer in Spain and one of the few European companies to cover all these stages internally through its state-of-the-art facilities in the Andalusia Technology Park. With specially selected equipment and machinery to benefit Clue from Industry 4.0 trends, the company has been able to manufacture and assemble all the prototypes resulting from its projects autonomously. It is also certified as a Production Organisation (POA) by EASA, one of only 17 companies in Spain with this qualification.