In Brief

Sept. 1, 2002
NASA seeks to establish UAV applications center in California, IFR Systems introduces line of variable-switching power supplies, Olympus offers MEMS foundry services, MORE...
NASA seeks to establish UAV applications center in CaliforniaAn Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Applications Center may be established at NASA Research Park to investigate the science and commercial applications of UAVs equipped with high-resolution digital imaging systems. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center signed a memorandum of understanding in June with Clark University (Worchester, Mass.) and the Girvin Institute, a non-profit organization also located at NASA Research Park. The new center would conduct collaborative research and development leading to using UAVs as high-resolution imaging platforms in National Air Space (NAS). The research would be similar to an ongoing $4 million NASA project, part of the UAV Science Demonstration program, to evaluate commercial applications for a solar-powered UAV in the NAS. Carolina Blake, chief of the NASA Ames Commercial Technology Office, says the new collaborative effort will provide "an excellent stimulus for accelerating technology development between NASA's field centers, the academic community and the private sector."IFR Systems introduces line of variable-switching power suppliesOfficials of IFR Systems Inc. of Wichita, Kan., are offering a new line of variable switching regulated DC power supplies called the Kikusui PAM series. The new power supply line has eight models in 2 kilowatt and 4 kilowatt versions. The power supplies have a range of large-capacity power devices to limit temperature rise, keep temperature dependence to a minimum, and improve reliability, IFR officials say. For more information contact IFR Systems by phone at 316-522-4981, by e-mail at [email protected], by post at 10200 West York St., Wichita, Kan. 67215-8999, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.ifrsys.com/.Olympus offers MEMS foundry servicesLeaders of the Olympus Optical Co. Ltd. in San Jose, Calif., are launching the company's Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) Foundry Services to offer MEMS design engineering, prototyping, and small-lot production contracting services. Company can have access to 1D and 2D MEMS mirror devices, atomic force microscope probe tips and cantilevers, image sensors, photo sensors, BiCMOS, optical scanners, active-bending microcatheters, diagnostic tactile sensors, free-flow modules, and protein power measurement. For more information contact Olympus by phone at 408-514-3900, by fax at 408-946-3836, by post at 180 Baytech Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95134-2302, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.olympuspartnership.com/.General Micro offers CompactPCI Pentium III single-board computerDesigners at General Micro Systems in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., are offering the C161 Aurora CompactPCI multimedia single-board computer that uses the PICMG packet backplane and system-management technologies. The hot-swappable board, which can operate as a system master or peripheral master, as a 1-GHz Pentium II processor as much as 2 gigabytes of small-outline dual in-line memory module memory. It also has three 10/100 Base-Tx Ethernet channels, five USB ports, and two Card-Bus slots. For more information contact General Micro by phone at 909-980-4863, by fax at 909-987-4863, by e-mail at [email protected], by post at 8358 Maple Place, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. 91730, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.gms4sbc.com/.DDC unveils tiny MIL-STD-1553 multichip hybrid interface terminalsOfficials of Data Device Corp. (DDC) in Bohemia, N.Y., are introducing a ball grid array (BGA) package of the company's Enhanced Mini-ACE MIL-STD-1553 component. The new device is the Micro-ACE. BGA packaging is in three versions: remote terminal-only, or bus controller/remote terminal/monitor in either 4K by 16 RAM or 64K by 17 RAM versions. All three devices have autonomous BC, a choice of RT buffering modes, a selective message monitor; autonomous built-in protocol and RAM self-test; and a choice of 10, 12, 16, or 20MHz clock frequencies. Micro-ACE products are compliant with MIL-STD-1553A/B; STANAG 3838 and MIL-STD-1760. For more information, contact DDC's Todd Decker by phone at 631-567-5600 ext.7422, by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www.ddc-web.com/.Green Hills offers emulation support for IBM PowerPC 4xx processorsEngineers at Green Hills Software in Santa Barbara, Calif., are offering enhanced emulation support for the IBM Power PC 4xx family or processors, including the new 440GP and 405GPr, company officials announced. The Green Hills MULTI debugger, together with the Agilent E5904B family of trace port analyzers provide monitoring and control for real-time trace to help with debugging. For more information contact Lynn Robinson at Green Hills Software by phone at 805-965-6044, by fax at 805-965-6343, by e-mail at [email protected], by post at 30 West Sola St., Santa Barbara, Calif., 93101, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.ghs.com/.Teledyne relays offers three-phase solid-state relayDesigners at Teledyne Relays in Hawthorne, Calif., are introducing a three-phase solid-state relay called the 3PAK220 for military and aerospace applications. The device comes with control status indication of the input command, 28-volts DC control, and 1.1-amp load output rating. Relay inputs and outputs are optically isolated, and require no heat sink. The 3PAK220 is for three-phase 47-440 Hz applications that require low electromagnetic interference under severe environmental conditions. It meets the guidelines of MIL-STD-461 and MIL-STD-462, and can substitute for large three-phase contactors in aircraft applications. For more information contact Antonio Gallegos of Teledyne Relays by phone at 323-241-1264, by fax at 323-779-9161, by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www.teledynerelays.com/.Dolch unveils RuggedTouch touch-screen computer for harsh environmentsSystems designers at Dolch Computer Systems Inc. in Fremont, Calif., are offering the RuggedTouch and RuggedTouch Plus industrial touch-screen displays and workstations. The RuggedTouch comes with 12-, 15-, or 18-inch liquid crystal displays. Bezel options include stainless steel for NEMA 4X applications and black power coated steel for NEMA-4 and NEMA 12 applications. Upgrades are available to render the displays sunlight readable. The RuggedTouch Plus includes rear-mounted ATX computer with as many as six expansion slots, Intel 1.2 GHz Pentium III microprocessor, 30-gigabyte hard drive, and 256 megabytes of or RAM. Each of these devices has EnhancedInfrared touch displays for harsh and hazardous applications. These screens maintain their calibration without drifting and are operationally immune to cuts or wear on the touch surface, Dolch officials say. For more information contact Dolch by phone at 510-661-2220, by fax at 510-490-2360, by post at 3178 Laurelview Court, Fremont, Calif. 94538, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.dolch.com/.Racal Instruments delivers four jet engine test systems to the U.S. NavyOfficials of Racal Instruments of Irvine, Calif., delivered four jet engine test systems to the U.S. Navy. Each of the company's data acquisition and throttle-control systems provides intermediate level test for the Navy's Jet Engine Test Instrumentation program, better known as JETI. Racal's JETI system uses common hardware and test program sets for land and sea-based installations, company officials say. The system can test F414, F404, F110, J52 jet engines, as well as two auxiliary power units. For more information contact Racal by phone at 949-859-8999, by fax at 949-859-7139, by post at 4 Goodyear St., Irvine, Calif. 92618, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.racalinstruments.com/.

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