airborne instrumentation lessons learned...** the instrumentation engineer must help the flight test...

Presented to:

Presented by:

Airborne Instrumentation Lessons Learned

1

ITEA

Bruce Johnson

NAVAIR Public Release 18-354, Distribution Statement A“Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited” 5/16/2018

Overview• Obtaining accurate requirements from flight test

community

• Training the Instrumentation workforce– New hires, mid career, senior engineers/technicians

• Standard Operating procedures– Technical Standard Operating Procedures (TSOP’s)– Administrative Standard Operating Procedures (ASOP’s)

• Instrumentation specific peer reviews

• Instrumentation Statement of Work (SOW)

• Customer assumptions/questions

• Providing inputs to prime contractor SOW’sNAVAIR Public Release 18-354, Distribution Statement A – Approved For Public Release: Distribution is unlimited 2

Requirements

• Obtaining accurate Instrumentation requirements from the flight test community– Critical, often misunderstood, not

communicated well, not confirmed– Drives design decisions, sensor choices etc.– You usually cannot recover from incorrect

requirements!

NAVAIR Public Release XXXXX, Distribution Statement A 3

Requirements (Cont.)


• Provide customer with Requirements Description Request form– Questions

• Project Description• Electrical Description• Mechanical Description• Constraints

– Example: Instrumented Weapon must be Jettisonable• Parameter Description

– Name– Signal Source– Frequency of Interest– Measurement Uncertainty– Engineering Units– Engineering Units Range– Collection method (Telemetry, Record, both etc.)

** The Instrumentation Engineer MUST help the flight test engineer with these requirements,do not assume the flight test engineers first response is correct(i.e. Cut & paste, personnel turnover, inexperience, ego)

Training the Workforce


• New Hires (0- 5 Years)• MUST complete mandatory training/required reading

(i.e. Safety/Policy)• Boring but necessary

• MUST Provide hands on real world training with actual Instrumentation Hardware & Software

• DO NOT send new hire to a cube with a stack of documents to read and then ignore them, MUST mix reading with hands on work in lab with expectations/milestones

• MUST Provide opportunities for mentoring• Example: Aircraft surface position calibrations, get

the guy/gal out of the cube bring them to the aircraft to witness

Training the Workforce (Cont.)• Mid-Career (5 – 15 Years)

– DO NOT assume they know how to perform all aspects of an Instrumentation project

• Peoples experience is based on training and projects that they have actually worked

– Create culture of sharing with peers– Create culture of it’s Ok if you don’t know

everything (i.e. Ego, competing for promotions etc..)

– Based on project assignment, determine what level of new or refresher training is needed

– Must continue to learn, grow


Training the Workforce (Cont.)• Senior Engineers & Techs (15+ Years)

– DO NOT assume they know how to perform all aspects of an Instrumentation project

• Peoples experience is based on training and projects that they have actually worked

– Create culture of sharing with peers– Create culture of it’s Ok if you don’t know

everything (i.e. Ego, can be a big issue)– Based on project assignment, determine what

level of new or refresher training is needed– Must continue to learn, grow


Training the Workforce (Cont.)• Internally generated formal training (82 Modules)

– Measurement Theory– Data Acquisition– Imaging– Mechanical Analysis– Recorders/Transmitters– Data Validation & Processing– Misc – (i.e. Grounding bonding, flight clearance

etc.)


Training the Workforce (Cont.)


• Hands-on Training• Avionics Bus (1553, Arinc, Ethernet, Firewire etc.)• Analogs (Strains, Accels, Thermocouples, Freq’s etc.)• Recorders• Transmitters• Equipment Set-Up software• Data Validation/Processing Software

Standard Operating Procedures• Standard Operating Procedures

– Required for organization to deliver a consistent repeatable level of quality

– Provides guidance to employees– Provides organizational creditability to customer asking

questions– Provides starting point for discussions with prime contractor on

shared role & responsibility projects • Technical Standard Operating Procedures (TSOP’s)

– Describes/Documents technical procedures and guidance for specific subject

• Administrative Standard Operating Procedures (ASOP’s)– Describes/Documents administrative procedures and guidance

for specific subject• Ongoing process, always updating, adding /removing


Warning #2: Must balance the need for TSOP’s & ASOP’s Vs. dumbing down the workforce, a process will NOT solve all your problems

Warning #1: If you don’t continually educate the workforce and re-inforce these procedures they WILL not be followed

Standard Operating Procedures (Cont.)


Technical Standard Operating Procedure (TSOP) Examples:TSOP # TSOP TitleTSOP-001 Grounding/Bonding of Instrumentation SystemsTSOP-002 Shielding Practices for Instrumentation SystemsTSOP-003 Grounding and Shielding for TTC EquipmentTSOP-004 PCM Embedded Time

TSOP-005 Project Setup File Configuration Management

TSOP-006 Instrumentation System Report WritingTSOP-007 On-Aircraft CalibrationsTSOP-008 Data ProcessingTSOP-009 Data Validation ProcessTSOP-010 Telemetry System Design, Setup and CheckoutTSOP-011 Preflight ProceduresTSOP-012 Signal IsolationTSOP-013 Pre Sample Filtering and Sample Rates

TSOP-014 Wire and Cable Selection for Instrumentation SystemsTSOP-015 Wire Color Codes

TSOP-016 Electrical Drawing Naming ConventionTSOP-017 Mechanical Drawings Formats & PackagesTSOP-018 Structural Analysis ReportTSOP-019 Technical Review Board (TRB) Process

TSOP-020Instrumentation System Moisture Exposure Evaluation & Risk Assessment

TSOP-021 Technical Data Package (TDP)TSOP-022 On-Aircraft ASVS System Checkouts

TSOP-023Multiplexing and demultiplexing multiple data streams for telemetry

TSOP-024 Instrumentation Power System and Load Analysis

TSOP-025 Video Telemetry System Design, Setup and Checkout

TSOP # TSOP Title

TSOP-026F-18 Nose Instrumentation Pallet Installation and Removal Technical Procedures

TSOP-027 Required Documentation for Instrumentation Chops

TSOP-028 Uploading Solid State Data FilesTSOP-029 Verification of Strain Gage InstallationsTSOP-030 Measurement Uncertainty ProcessTSOP-031

TSOP-032Local Calibration Procedure of Strain Gage Instrumentation for Tension and Compression

TSOP-033Strain Gage Installation and Protection from Field Environments

TSOP-034 Creating Wiring Schematics in AutoCADTSOP-035 Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Control ProgramTSOP-036

TSOP-037IP Address Mapping for AID Ethernet Based Instrumentation Systems

TSOP-038 Instrumentation System Power-up CheckoutTSOP-039 Battery Maintenance & SafetyTSOP-040 Aircraft Confined SpaceTSOP-041 Local Calibration of Working Load CellsTSOP-042 Proof Testing of Rigging and Lifting EquipmentTSOP-043TSOP-044 Test Boom Leak Check ProcedureTSOP-045 F/A-18 Nose Boom Usage Tracking

TSOP-046F/A-18 Radar Pallet Installation & Removal Procedures

TSOP-047 Accelerometer Block Installation ProceduresTSOP-048 Temperature Tab Installation ProceduresTSOP-049 F/A-18 HUD Instrumentation data insertion procedure

Standard Operating Procedures (Cont.)


Administrative Standard Operating Procedure (ASOP) Examples:

SOP # SOP TitleASOP-001 Pre-Deployment Preparation for Remote Site SupportASOP-002 Special Flight Test Instrumentation PoolASOP-003 AID EstimatesASOP-004 Creation of AID SFTIP End ItemsASOP-005 Structures Lab CM & Quality Control ProcessASOP-006 Annual Vehicle Inventory ReviewASOP-007 Project Management GuidelinesASOP-008 Defining Project Category and ResponsibilityASOP-009 Engineering Change RequestASOP-010 Risk HandbookASOP-011 AID Disposal ProcessASOP-012 Security Procedures for Classified Data RecordingASOP-013 Process for obtaining Telemetry Encryption Certification

ASOP-014 AID Asset Inventory Control & Property Management SystemASOP-015ASOP-016ASOP-017 AID Configuration Management & Control Plan

ASOP-018AID Mechanical Instrumentation Configuration Management and Quality Control Process

ASOP-019ASOP-020 Branch Head Project Management ResponsibilitiesASOP-021 AID New Employee Training

Instrumentation Specific Peer Reviews• Technical Review Board (TRB) for all projects

– TRB Members• Chief Engineer• Senior Engineers & Technicians

– (Electrical & Mechanical)• Safety & QA

• Instrumentation Technical Reviews– System Requirements Review (SRR)– System Design Review (SDR)– Test Readiness Review (TRR)– Off-Site Trip Review (OTR)


Instrumentation Statement of Work (SOW)

• Every project MUST have a Statement of Work (SOW)– This is our contract with the customer

• Documents what we are doing, how much it will cost, and how long it will take• Must be signed, put under CM, and communicated/confirmed with customer

• Contents of SOW– Project Description– Instrumentation Requirements– Deliverables– Instrumentation Responsibilities– Non-Instrumentation Responsibilities– Assumptions/Constraints– Risk– Cost/Schedule Information

• If working with an aircraft prime Instrumentation SOW inputs should be part of the contract


Customer Assumptions/Questions

• Why do you cost so much?• Why do take so long ?• Why can’t you use a Go-Pro camera?

– Some sponsors with access to the Internet are self proclaimed experts

• Answers to all these questions– It’s all about the requirements– Concept of Operations



Questions?Bruce JohnsonAircraft Instrumentation DivisionNaval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD)Patuxent River , MD

Phone: (301) 342-3816E-Mail: [email protected]