A high-performance, low-cost, all- in-one flight control and inertial navigation system (INS) instrument combining global positioning system (GPS), air data, attitude heading reference system (ADAHRS) and autopilot for General Aviation aircraft was unveiled Tuesday by Athena Technologies of Warrenton, Va. Branded as SensorPac, the compact unit weighs less than 1.75 pounds and provides all data needed to drive primary, multi-function and heads-up display units, as well as electronic flight bags.
“Instrumentation as sophisticated yet as affordable as the SensorPac has not been available before,” emphasized Dr. David Vos, Chief Technology and Chief Executive Officer.
“By combining GPS/INS and ADAHRS into a solid state instrument, we are able to significantly reduce acquisition and installation costs and improve mean time between failure rates while delivering superior accuracy and performance.”
SensorPac integrates MEMS gyros and accelerometers, magnetometers, GPS receiver, air data pressure transducers and a flight computer. The strap-down design provides navigation, attitude and heading data with static and dynamic accuracy superior to traditional spinning mass vertical and directional gyros.
“We were able to achieve this exciting capability in a small package due to our experience designing and producing flight control systems for a variety of vehicles in the unmanned aerial vehicle industry,” Vos added. “This fact, coupled with our ‘concept to solution’ business mentality allows us to consistently meet or exceed our client’s needs and expectations.”
SensorPac achieves superior accuracy during both dynamic maneuvers and steady flight through Kalman-Filter algorithms. In addition, installation is simplified and cost savings are further realized due to SensorPac’s built-in automatic magnetic calibration system. According to Vos, FAA certification for SensorPac is expected in 2005, however the system is now available for use in experimental aircraft.
