EMMA KELLY / LONDON
Partners in EC-funded project plan to develop test rig to put commercial off-the-shelf fibre-optic components through their paces
Aerospace manufacturers, universities and fibre-optic specialists involved in a project part-funded by the European Commission (EC) plan to establish a test rig by the end of next year to test commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) fibre-optic technology with a view to accelerating its wider use in the aerospace industry.
The Low Cost Optical Avionics Data Networks (LOADNet) project, which is 50%-funded by the EC, was launched last year with the intention of identifying suitable COTS fibre-optic components, standardising them for use in aerospace and addressing through-life support issues. Although fibre-optics harnesses have been used in military aircraft, including the Eurofighter, EH Industries Merlin and Boeing CH-47 Chinook, the technology has not been widely used in commercial aerospace due to cost and environmental factors.
The project, which is due to run through to December 2003, involves Airbus; BAE Systems; Smiths Aerospace; the universities of Strathclyde, Scotland, and Carlos III de Madrid, Spain; Spanish integrated network and system design specialist Sistemas y Redes Telematics; optical component developers Framatome Connectors International, Nexans Harnesses and Institut fur Mikrotechnik Mainz; and French research group ONERA-CERT.
LOADNet is focusing on the development of cost-effective photonic network technology for next generation aircraft data communication systems and is intended to exploit fibre-optic technology gains made by the commercial telecommunications and data communications industries. Fibre-optics provide reliability, robustness and particularly weight benefits over traditional copper cabling, but the higher cost and lack of standards have inhibited their wider adoption. The LOADNet partners have identified suitable fibre-optic cables and connector components and intend to construct a test rig, to be operational by the end of next year, to subject the components to aerospace environmental conditions, says BAE Systems Airbus, which is co-ordinating the project. In particular, the fibre-optics need to survive the extreme temperature ranges found in aerospace applications, says BAE.
Fibre-optics would be suitable for use in any aircraft system involving data transfer - the most obvious application being in-flight entertainment systems, says BAE.
Source: Flight International
