Curtiss-Wright Debuts Quick Start Kit to Ease Access to its Next Generation Axon™ Flight Test Data Acquisition Unit

July 10, 2018

EUROPEAN TEST AND TELEMETRY CONFERENCE (ETTC) 2018, NÜRNBERG, GERMANY (HALL 2, BOOTH 2-303) – JUNE 26, 2018 – Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions division today announced at the European Test and Telemetry Conference 2018 (ETTC) that its Aerospace Instrumentation (AI) business unit, which includes its Acra and Teletronics (TTC) product lines, has introduced the new Axon™ Quick Start Kit (QSK) to speed and ease access to its next-generation compact Axon data acquisition unit (DAU) for flight test instrumentation (FTI) applications. Axon, the most powerful and modern DAU on the market, combines unprecedented flexibility with outstanding reliability for demanding FTI applications. It provides system designers with advanced features, such as the Axonite™ remote module system, numerous onboard software resources, and support for daisy-chaining chassis via a dual-port Ethernet controller module.

Using the Axon QSK (AXN/QSK/001), FTI engineers can rapidly familiarize themselves with the DAU as it includes everything needed in the supplied flight case. The QSK is also 100% usable in a full flight test campaign and can be augmented with more modules, Axon chassis, or other DAUs from Curtiss-Wright. The QSK is being offered for a limited time at a discounted introductory price .

Axon Quick Start Kit Contents:

The Axon QSK provides all of the hardware needed to get started, including:

  • 9 user slot Axon chassis (AXN/CHS/09U)
  • A dual-port Gigabit Ethernet, controller, programmer and transmitter (AXN/BCU/401)
  • 8 channel flexible analog module (AXN/ADC/401)
  • 24 channel ARINC-429 bus monitor / packetizer module (AXN/ABM/401)
  • Axonite remote module chassis (AXN/ITE/01U)
  • Axonite extender card (AXN/EXT/401)
  • Laptop with DAS Studio and TTCWare setup software installed
  • All required cables and connectors
  • A user guide with information on the use of Axon modules

“The Axon Quick Start Kit lets FTI engineers easily familiarize themselves with our innovative new Axon data acquisition platform,” said Lynn Bamford, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Defense Solutions division. “With its miniature size and unprecedented flexible installation options, Axon lets FTI engineers lower the weight of equipment and wiring, gather more data, and meet demanding time schedules while ensuring that none of their critical data is lost during flight test. Available at a one-time only introductory cost, the Axon QSK makes it easier for FTI engineers to discover for themselves why Axon represents the future of flight test, missile and aircraft monitoring applications.”

About Axon

The Axon is an ultra-compact and lightweight data acquisition system that is ideal as a remote node or as a stand-alone chassis. It builds on Curtiss-Wright’s heritage as a leading supplier of rugged reliable data acquisition and works with Curtiss-Wright's other widely used DAU chassis.

Axon uses a high-speed serial backplane (1 Gbps dedicated link per module) to ensure future high data rates are supported. This design also allows off-the-shelf data acquisition modules to be placed in ultra-miniature "Axonite" housings and located remotely. These can be separated from the chassis by up to 15 meters (49 feet). Locating data acquisition closer to the sensors can significantly decrease the installation time and cost of the instrumentation while simultaneously reducing wiring weight.

Further flexibility is provided by Axon’s dual Gigabit Ethernet outputs, which simplify the addition of Ethernet nodes or allow multiple DAU chassis to be daisy chained together. An on-board processor speeds configuration, pre-flight checks, and in-service firmware upgrading.

The Axon uses hardware-based acquisition engines to minimize data loss, support deterministic operation and ensure rapid recovery in the case of a power brownout. Axon supports the same data formats and can be configured using the same setup software as other Curtiss-Wright DAUs. Data between chassis can be synchronized easily using a protocol such as the IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP).

The Axon is ideal for use in Flight Test Instrumentation, Airborne Telemetry, Flight Data Monitoring and Space Data Handling applications.

About the Curtiss-Wright Aerospace Instrumentation Group

In 2017, Curtiss-Wright integrated its Dublin business unit (Ireland) with the Teletronics Technology Corporation business unit (based in Newtown, Pennsylvania), to form the Industry’s broadest and most experienced single source for customers of commercial and defense aerospace instrumentation system solutions. With the merger of the two business units, Curtiss-Wright now supports more aerospace flight test customers, platforms, and programs than any other competitor around the world. What’s more, with its increased resources and global reach, the Company is able to significantly expand the availability of its unmatched quality and customer support, while bringing even larger system-level solutions to market.

Sales inquiries: Please forward all Sales and reader service inquiries to [email protected].

For more information about the Curtiss-Wrights Defense Solutions division, please visit www.curtisswrightds.com.

About Curtiss-Wright Corporation

Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a global innovative company that delivers highly engineered, critical function products and services to the commercial, industrial, defense and energy markets.  Building on the heritage of Glenn Curtiss and the Wright brothers, Curtiss-Wright has a long tradition of providing reliable solutions through trusted customer relationships. The company employs approximately 8,600 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.curtisswright.com.

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