Keywords
Citation
(2005), "Board technology lowers mil/aerospace power management system cost", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 77 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2005.12777bab.020
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Board technology lowers mil/aerospace power management system cost
Board technology lowers mil/aerospace power management system cost
Keywords: Aerospace industry, Power transmission systems, Costs
DDC's new remote solid-state power controller (RPC) board technology claims substantially lower costs per channel than traditional solid state power controller (SSPC) modules in military and aerospace power management systems. The lower costs will enable military ground vehicle, commercial aircraft, and military aircraft applications to benefit from cost-effective power management systems that control power and protect wiring from overload conditions.
RPC boards realize a lower cost per channel by using modern control techniques, combining multiple channels on a single board, and utilizing surface mount technology. Each RPC board may contain up to 16 channels with a total current rating of 160A per board. Manufacturing a single 16-channel board is more economical than manufacturing 16 single-channel modules.
The RPC board technology uses a digital signal processing (DSP) circuit to provide on-board intelligence and flexibility. Each channel may be independently controlled, enabled, disabled, or reset and the current ratings of each channel may be individually set. Status outputs with current reporting are provided on the boards. The boards also have a Built-in- Test (BIT) feature and communication protocol options include CANbus, RS- 232, RS-422, and RS-485. Applications are for 28 V systems although the technology may be applied to higher voltages.
The RPC boards are said to be designed to withstand rugged military environments such as humidity, vibration, EMI, and temperature. The boards are conformal coated to provide moisture resistance and are EMI tolerant. The mechanical design complies with standard ground vehicle and aircraft environmental requirements. The standard operating temperature range is -40 to +85°C, and boards may be up screened from -55 to +100°C.
“DDC's RPC board technology provides a method of greatly reducing the price per channel for military and aircraft power management systems and simplifying power distribution system development while minimizing inventory requirements. This technology provides the greatest advantage where the channel count is high (8 to 16 channels per board), the current levels are at or below 25A per channel,” said Jack Redus, marketing manager at DDC. “DDC has a standard 16-channel board that may be set to a customer's specific requirements,” he added. Pricing is dependent upon number of channels, current ratings, and quantity”.
Details available from: DDC. Tel: +1 631-567-5600 ext. 7419; E-mail: info@ddc-web.com; web site: www.ddc-web.com