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The design of the SFS EFIS-2000 IDU (display and processor) is such that
remote NAV/COM radio can be easily added. Each IDU has about 20
communication ports of various "flavors". While virtually any device with a
communication port can be interfaced to an IDU, the sensible thing to do is
to connect a "headless" device. By "headless" I am referring to devices that
do not have face plates with knobs and displays. The user interface is
handled through the IDU, taking advantage of a cleaner panel, shared
information and a single interface to learn and remember. The IDU has been
interfaced to GPS, AHRS, Air Data, Autopilot, Weather, and TCAD (traffic)
with more coming. Expect to see a radio interface, localizer/glideslope
adapter, airframe status monitor (gear position, flap position, cabin
altitude) and UPS (uninterruptable power supply), among others, soon.
<<You're putting a lot of responsiblitly on one box doing all this. Is that
a
better solution, really?>>
Actually it is not one box. While a one IDU system is possible, two are
recommended and up to four are possible. All IDUs in the system are
identical and can perform the functions of the others if they fail. The IDUs
are wired together in a daisy chain so that one device (GPS say) talks to
all the IDUs. If one device fails, or if one IDU fails, then the balance of
the system is still functional. Unlike many of the competing systems, a
single failure won't bring the whole system to it's knees. Loose GPS and the
Inertial system takes over. Loose an IDU and the second IDU fills in. Loose
airdata and the GPS and Inertial system provide the information.
In techno-speak the system has distributed functionality and is recursively
redundant. Think of it this way, you have 20 people that HAVE to get from
town A to town B. You can put them all on a bus or caravan ten cars. If the
bus breaks, nobody gets there. If six of the ten cars break, you can still
pile everybody into the remaining 4 cars. If the probability of the bus or a
car breaking is 1 in 100 then the probability of 6 cars breaking is 1 in
1,000,000,000,000. You would win the Idaho lottery 75,000 times before this
happened.
Combine this system with a set of standby steam gages and you have a belt
and suspenders and bullet proof vest solution.
Regards,
Brent Regan
P.S. For those of you who don't already know, Regan Designs Inc. designed
the IDU under contract to SFS. Being a pilot, a design engineer, a coward
and a user of the SFS system gives me some unique insights.
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Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.
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