company insight

DO-178 CERTIFICATION AUTOMATION ENABLES CUSTOM AVIONICS 

All aircraft, manned or unmanned, benefit from their own customized digital instruments. (UN)MANNED allows specialized custom avionics instruments that are fully DO-254 & DO-178C certifiable to DAL A. From airborne instruments to ground control stations for UAVs, (UN)MANNED offers aircraft manufacturers their own custom avionics systems, in a cost-effective way.

All aircraft flying in controlled airspace require airworthiness certification. This requirement extends to all components related to safety of flight, and especially to soft- ware-driven hardware, the avionics.


The complexity of avionics design and certification, and the associated long development cycle has traditionally required high budgets. This has limited aircraft designers in their capability of to equip their new design aircraft with purpose built custom avionic systems. The constraints of project budget and time, combined with the unrelenting quality requirements, results in delayed projects and budget overruns. These facts significantly increase the risk of the overall aircraft program and in a way corners the designers into COTS avionics systems.


For new aircraft designs, particularly for low volume series, a glass cockpit application usually becomes a patchwork of generic off the shelf components coupled with some traditional instruments. The doors of innovation open wide once in aircraft design designers could have their requirements answered by their avionic systems.

Then we have the Sol Avionics System

(UN)MANNED provides DO-254 pre-certified hardware, running the DO-178C pre- integrated and pre-certified SolOS runtime. Classical time consuming and costly delays in V-cycle is eliminated by going straight from high-level requirements to executable application.

Sol is a high-level requirement language that is compiled directly into a binary file. Instead of going down the V-cycle and developing software, testing suite and associated documentation set for certification system designers only specify their high-level requirements from the avionics system. The pre-certified Sol avionics system identifies how to configure itself to satisfy those requirements and delivers the configuration file, that is called SolApp.

Sol Avionics System provides fully DO-254 certified Sol avionics computers that run DO-178C certified SW. Final user application is developed as a SolApp that run on (UN)MANNED provided platforms. All (UN)MANNED products come with full documentation evidence set for DO-254 and DO-178C certification up to design assurance level A.

SOL AVIONICS COMPUTERS EXIST IN SEVERAL PHYSICAL FROM FACTORS:

SolAero is a lightweight (150g) high performance airborne computer and is used on both manned and unmanned aircraft avionics. SolAero is also DO-160G certified for both fixed and rotary wing platforms.

SolRack 19” rack mount computer used on certified UAV ground control stations.

SolDesk is a desktop certified avionics computer for remote pilot stations of UAVs and flight control centers.

SolBoard is an avionics computer board that allows system manufacturers to install into their own computing platform chassis as the pre-certified computing unit.

FULLY DO-178C UP TO DAL A CERTIFIED SOL SW PRODUCTS ARE:

SolOS, which is the final runtime application that run on any of the Sol Computers with no dependence on 3rd party licenses and other operating systems.

SolC, or Sol Compiler, is the SW tool that compiles final application written in Sol language into a configuration file for SolOS.

SolIDE is the Sol Integrated Development Environment that allows Sol designers to develop their SolApp application rapidly with visual support and real-time Worst Case Execution Time (WCET) reports as the application is being developed.

So far, all traditional cockpit applications have been developed by (UN)MANNED with Sol Avionics System. Application examples include Primary Flight Display with Synthetic Vision System capability, Navigation Display, Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System (EICAS), Multi-Functional Display, Weight and Balance computers, training simulators etc. Sol Avionics System has also been successfully used on ground control stations for HALE and MALE UAV systems with full aircraft certification from EASA to DAL B level.

(UN)MANNED with its Sol Avionics System allows any aircraft manufacturer to have certification for their avionics system. Now, any aircraft manufacturer can customize the avionics suite with full certification for their particular aircraft, for both manned or unmanned aircraft. Even small volume series down to 3 aircraft had their custom-built EASA-certified avionics systems using (UN)MANNED Sol. Respected customers of (UN)MANNED include Zeppelin airships, Antonov cargo aircraft and Elbit Hermes 900 UAVs. (UN)MANNED also provides training services so that our clients’ technical teams can develop avionics systems independently with Sol Avionics System.

Extensions and future for Sol Avionics System

Sol Avionics System is revolutionary by itself in avionics. (UN)MANNED research team is already busy extending Sol language capabilities into further application fields such as image processing and artificial intelligence applications on certifiable avionics platforms.

Aviation industry sees a new wave of innovation that come on many fronts. A large number of innovative solutions of today require intelligent avionics to support them and optimize their use. Electrical propulsion and electrically controlled flight require smart engine controls and flight support systems, which rely on Sol Avionics System. The backbone of future intelligent aviation systems will be built on (UNMANNED certification automation technology with Sol language and Sol Avionics System equipment. All fully-certified examples include:

Automation in manned flight controls

Remotely piloted or pilotless urban air systems

Passenger aircraft pilot support and safety systems

Intelligent auto-pilot and navigation system for unmanned aircraft,

Contact details:

(UN)MANNED NV
Baron Ruzettelaan 3 bus 4.1
8310 Brugge
Belgium


Tel: +32 50 343326

info@unmanned.aero

www.unmanned.aero