Thank you very much from all of us at Ideal Aerosmith
President’s Reflections on the Past Year
President John Mohn
It has been a challenging year to be in business for many of our customers, suppliers,
and business partners. The same can be said for Ideal Aerosmith. As a small business
with diverse activities in the United States as well other countries around the
world external issues have made business anything but business as usual. The US
recession though showing signs of improvement has left damage in a number of areas.
Commercial aviation has finally started to show signs of improvement. The US government’s
political battles and the related budget dilemma have had repercussions on a number
of segments related to our business. On a global level there have been numerous
political and financial issues that have had rippling effects. The uncertainty caused
by the above issues has had an adverse impact on some business or at a minimum,
forced businesses to be more cautious.
Despite it all, Ideal has continued to have significant interest in the products
and services its great team of employees delivers. Ideal has continued to develop
stronger relationships with its customers and also added a number of new customers
during the year. In the normal course of business Ideal strives to improve its products
and service offerings. This year has been no exception as we are making progress
on initiatives that either have or will represent new enhancements to our offerings.
Ideal has also begun an extensive Strategic Growth initiative that will set a base
for future direction of the company. The project involves employees from all aspects
of our company and is guided by an experienced group of outside consultants.
Our company continues to be very appreciative of the opportunities we’ve had to
work with our customers over the past year. We look forward to continuing to our
efforts to support you in your business needs. Thank you very much from all of us
at Ideal Aerosmith.
Aerospace and Defense Manufacturers to Benefit from Turnkey Automated Test Equipment Collaboration
Ideal Aerosmith, Inc. is joining forces with Esterline Control Systems – AVISTA
to deliver out-of-the-box, complete automatic test equipment (ATE) for aerospace
and defense manufacturers. This collaboration allows manufacturers to speed development
and certification for their complex components and focus on the development of the
end product.
“As aerospace and defense systems become more complex, software is playing a more
critical role in driving product functionality,” notes Tom Bragg, vice president
of operations for Esterline Control Systems – AVISTA. “Quality product is always
imperative, and test equipment helps ensure safety and reliability. Our combined
approach offers the industry world-class software, hardware and process innovation
to meet the most complex testing needs with greater ease.”
Ideal offers extensive capabilities in hardware systems, including custom test stand
development. The AVISTA services team brings broad experience in software development
and process improvement. The combination means manufacturers have the best of both
worlds for their next-generation avionics and defense ATE.
“Customers face tight development and certification timelines, and are always looking
for ways to improve efficiencies,” adds Darren Stinson, senior vice president of
test services for Ideal Aerosmith, Inc. “We’ve always prided ourselves on listening
to our customers’ and understanding the complexity of their test needs. By joining
forces with AVISTA services, we can help customers deliver on time, as well as with
greater quality, precision and completeness.”
About Ideal Aerosmith, Inc.
Ideal Aerosmith engineers world-class motion and electronic test solutions. The
company has been providing innovative test solutions since its founding in 1938
by a group of former airline maintenance personnel. In addition to a full line of
motion systems, Ideal Aerosmith’s capabilities include full turnkey services in
the design, manufacture, and field support of aerospace Automatic Test Equipment
(ATE). Ideal Aerosmith is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company.
www.ideal-aerosmith.com
About Esterline Control Systems – AVISTA
For almost 25 years, AVISTA services have been trusted by leading companies in aerospace,
defense and medical electronics needing safety-critical software and systems engineering
support. The organization is rated CMMI Level 5, the industry benchmark for software
quality, as well as ISO 9001:2008. AVISTA Incorporated is part of the Esterline
Control Systems group and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Esterline Corporation
(NYSE:ESL, www.esterline.com), a specialized
aerospace and defense company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.
Solid State Drive Technology Enhances Security, Speed, Reliability and Endurance of Ideal Aerosmith’s AERO 4000™ Motion Controller
The SSD is mounted in the AERO 4000TM Motion Controller so that it can be easily removed by the user through an access panel on the front
“The use of solid state drives (SSD) is just one example of Ideal’s commitment to
continual improvement and manufacturing excellence” says Gary Kleven, Engineering
Manager at Ideal Aerosmith. “We are always looking for ways to continue as industry
innovators by adapting new technologies into our products.”
AERO 4000™ SSD key features:
- Security
The SSD is mounted in the AERO 4000™ Motion Controller so that it can be easily
removed by the user through an access panel on the front. In this way, a system
may have multiple users without sharing proprietary data. The SSD thus provides
portability, increased security and increased productivity.
- Speed
The SSD has no “spin up,” thus enabling it to boot up faster, and run more efficiently
than hard drive disks (HDDs).
- Reliability
SSDs have a distinct advantage over traditional HDDs in that they contain no spinning
disks and movable read/write heads. SSDs use microchips which retain data in non-volatile
memory chips and contain no moving parts. Since SSDs do not have motors or any moving
parts they run on about half the power needed to run an HDD. The use of less power
generates less heat and subsequently requires less energy to keep cool. This, coupled
with the lack of moving parts, gives SSDs a significantly longer life span than
traditional HDDs.
- Durability
Compared to electromechanical HDDs, SSDs are typically less susceptible to physical
shock, are silent, and have lower access time and latency. Designed to withstand
wear and tear, SSDs feature extreme endurance and performance in harsh environments.
For more information on the AERO 4000™ TM Motion Controller, please call 701-757-3400.
Ideal Aerosmith Delivers Enhanced Synchronization Modules with AERO 4000™ Controllers
Ideal Aerosmith (Ideal) is pleased to announce the successful implementation of
the “Enhanced Synchronization Module” (ESM) option in the AERO 4000™ Digital Motion
Controller. Ideal recently delivered AERO 4000™ controllers configured with optional
ESM’s for use on Ideal’s new flight motion simulation systems and also for use on
existing flight motion simulation systems where the AERO 4000™ controller replaced
existing, obsolete motion controllers. The ESM’s were requested on AERO 4000™ control
systems that were purchased by U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force facilities that perform
Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) simulations.
Hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) systems can provide unique development and test capabilities
to navigation and guidance system designers. However, these test capabilities are
dependent upon complex engineering disciplines that involve mechanics, electronics,
software, and system integration of HWIL systems. Threaded among these four system
aspects is the notion of synchronicity of operation, a common but particularly important
requirement where high fidelity real-time simulations are required. Therefore, HWIL
applications are often the performance “acid test” for component manufacturers.
Ideal has approached the system synchronicity issue by offering a straightforward
“standards-based” solution in the AERO 4000™ Motion Controller that leverages GPS
or other time standards.
Synchronous HWIL Lab Application
The AERO 4000™ is paced by its programmable time-based oscillator. Although the AERO
4000 supports HWIL simulation while being operated asynchronously with respect to
the HWIL simulation host’s PVA demand rate, better fidelity is achieved by synchronizing
the two systems, The AERO 4000™ controller provides several options for synchronizing
with the simulation host or unit under test (UUT), which therefore eliminates the
problem of controller-host phase drift.
The AERO 4000™’s ESM module can be operated free-running, locked to an external 10
MHz /1 PPS (pulse per second) timing reference from the simulation host or facility,
or locked to the GPS signal acquired through an external antenna. A typical Synchronous
HWIL Lab Application is shown in Figure 1. In either case, the time-base oscillator
outputs a 10 MHz/1PPS timing signal pair and also outputs the controller’s position
loop update clock which is typically 5 kHz.
These timing options allow the AERO 4000™ to be slaved to the simulation host, the
host to be slaved to the AERO 4000™, or both to be slaved to a facility-wide timing
reference. If both the AERO 4000™ and the host are equipped with GPS timing references,
they can be synchronized to a Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) with no timing cables
between them.
For more information on the ESM option, please contact Ideal Aerosmith at 218-773-2455.
