United Electronic Industries (UEI) offers a wide variety of input / output (I/O) solutions designed to meet the demanding requirements of military aviation data acquisition and control applications.
We offer more than 60 different I/O boards, including MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429/453/708/825, avionics full duplex ethernet (AFDX), analogue and digital I/O, variable reluctance / speed inputs, rotary variable differential transformer (RVDT) / linear LVDT and synchro / resolver boards.
Our hardware provides a unique combination of high-density and ruggedness, and is designed with the robust structure and flexible element set required for a range of applications, from military lab development and testing to aircraft deployment.
Innovative instrumentation for aircraft applications
UEI provides state-of-the-art instrumentation for various air-based applications, including:
- Flight simulators and cockpit trainers
- Maintenance trainers
- Engine test cells for product development and production
- System integration labs (SILs)
- Airframe testing (iron bird test systems) for shock, vibration, bending and fatigue
- Avionics system testing in manufacturing and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO)
- Flight recorders and data loggers
- Avionics bridges
We also offer rugged ethernet-based architecture with redundant ethernet for secure operations, drivers for Windows, QNX, Linux, and VxWorks, feedback on all control points, self-test and self-diagnostic capability, along with 100% test-verified equipment.
Also available is a single API for C/C++, VB, Java, Matlab, Simulink, and LabVIEW with an example code, obsolescence mitigation with ten-year availability guarantee and three-year hardware warranty.
Airforce engine test cell for system configuration
A large military research facility needed to acquire high-speed dynamic data from an engine test cell. The types of measurements were pressures, pressure differentials, temperature, strain, fluid flow, force, and mechanical strain.
The application presented several significant design challenges, starting with a limited budget, as well as stringent requirements for simultaneous sampling of all measurement sensors.
Wide physical separation of sensors and long cable runs to the host computer system also incorporated multiple UEI Cubes mounted directly on the test stand, and interconnected via ethernet an ideal solution.
The system was designed for thrust frames to be separate from the cell so they could be configured and calibrated as an offline task independent of the cell the frame was installed in.
UEI equipment moved with the thrust frame so the system could be configured, tested, and calibrated with the engine either in or out of the test cell, which would not be possible without the company’s rugged commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) system.
PPC8 PowerDNA Cube
UEI’s PPC8 PowerDNA Cube engine has a PowerPC central processing unit (CPU), secure digital (SD) card slot, DB-9 Serial Port, SD Card slot, several indicating LEDs, and an ethernet interface.
Measuring only 4in x 4.1in x 5.8in, it has a high level of power and flexibility.
Each I/O Cube consists of two primary subsections. The top level of the cube provides the cube controller, network interface and power supply, while the lower levels of the cube provide I/O slots.
The cube used in the on-frame data acquisition (DAQ) system contains a mix of UEI analogue, digital and power conversion I/O boards. For a complete list of the I/O boards used, please download our full case study PDF from the white papers tab above.
About UEI
UEI specialises in Modbus transmission control protocol (TCP) markets, data logger / recorder programmable automation controller (PAC), and PC / Ethernet DAQ and control.
We provide the highest quality hardware, software and services, enabling engineers and scientists worldwide to interface real-life DAQ and control hardware. Using state-of-the-art technologies, we serve the needs of individual researchers / developers, systems integrators, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
