TPS design and development for CMA program using LM-STAR®

Selex Galileo, a Finmeccanica Company, has been instructed by the Italian Air Force to define a new Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) solution for second level of maintenance to be used for the Avionic Centre (CMA) with reference to the Eurofighter Program. In particular, this resulted in Test Program Set (TPS) design and development for several Line Replaceable Units (LRU) of European Fighter (EF2000 Block 2) configuration. A further requirement is to have the same high level performance/reliability ATE opportunity to re-host some TPSs for Block 1 configuration, already designed and purchased in the past using another ATE, for improved work load distribution and to maintain and support them for many years beyond their original projected life expectancy. Selex Galileo started the collaboration with Lockheed Martin and finalized the acceptance and delivery of their first LM-STAR® station (Galileo Euro Test Set variant) that met the technical requirements for the development of more than 30 TPS (considering both new T2 TPS and re-hosted T1 ones). The new LMSTAR® configuration posed many technological challenges from both a software and hardware perspective that had to be overcome. A limited budget combined with an aggressive schedule presented formidable obstacles. This paper will describe how a project can still maintain cost, schedule, and quality objectives while addressing evolving test requirements. The support of such a complex international program will also be explored. This paper will describe the TPS hardware configuration and in particular the New Versatile Panel Interface (NVPI) between LMSTAR® resources and TPS adapters. Where applicable, the same adapter has been utilized for multiple TPS. The NVPI consists of a single panel interface, transparent in respect to station resources, for all TPSs using different configuration modules (cap adapter). These resources can be routed on the front panel and can be accessible through connectors- with high pin density to guarantee a reliable connection test after test. Finally, the re-hosting issues (related to TestStand/Lab Windows CVI and IEEE ATLAS 716/89 software development environment) of several TPSs T1 aircraft configuration previously designed on another ATE and now coded on the LM-STAR® will be examined. We will also address the Software Downloading Library (SDL), as a generic Bus Loader/Verifier (BLVR), designed to transfer and to verify the application software (flight code) usually into LRU EEPROM memory.