2002 · 17 citations · 0 references
EngineeringAerospace EngineeringComputer ScienceAutomationInstrumentationSoftware EngineeringComputer-based TestingData AcquisitionIndustrial InstrumentationSoftware TestingCustomer Feedback SystemsEngine Control SoftwareGraphical User InterfacesSoftware Development MethodologyTest Program Design
The Air Force’s three existing aircraft engine test systems are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain due to hardware and software obsolescence, prompting the development of a new tester to replace them. This paper reports on the development of the Engine Test/Trim Automated System II under contract, using commercial off‑the‑shelf hardware and software, and evaluates the advantages of employing LabVIEW 4.0.1 as a graphical programming environment for engine test software. The authors built the data acquisition and test program in LabVIEW 4.0.1 on Windows NT/95, leveraging its instrument‑control features and rapid UI prototyping to create test program sets and obtain immediate operator feedback. LabVIEW’s instrument‑control capabilities were used to optimize VXI data acquisition, and its reusable virtual instruments enabled the rapid development of generic test program sets for other aircraft engine types.
CACI International Inc. is on contract with SAALC/LDAD, the Air Force engine tester program management office, to build an Engine Test/Trim Automated System II (ETTAS II) using Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) hardware and software. This tester will ultimately replace the three aircraft engine test systems currently used by the Air Force, all of which are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain doe to hardware/software obsolescence problems. In keeping with the COTS requirement, we chose to develop our data acquisition and test program software in LabVIEW 4.0.1 for Windows NT/95. This paper discusses the advantages we have gained in using LabVIEW 4.0.1, a graphical programming language, rather than a conventional programming language as our software development environment. We detail how we were able to take advantage of LabVIEW's instrument control capabilities to optimize our VXI data acquisition process. We then discuss how LabVIEW can be used not only as an instrument control language, but also as a general purpose programming language. We discuss how we used LabVIEW for test program set (TPS) development and for rapidly prototyping user interfaces and program features for immediate operator/customer feedback. The paper also details how LabVIEW enabled os to readily establish a core of "generic" VIs (virtual instruments) for subsequent reuse in developing additional TPS for other aircraft engine types/variants.