IT
The IT department is responsible for all electronic and computer systems required for our operations.
IT
These systems are fully custom-designed to meet the specific requirements of each project. This approach enables us to develop an in-depth understanding of how each system component works, thereby enhancing safety and performance.
Our main areas of interest are: RF, power electronics, data acquisition, telemetry, control and sensor fusion algorithms.
Air Telemetry V2
The second iteration of our completely custom flight data recorder. This system is used to gather data from various sensors on board of the plane and give real time feedback of what is happening during the flight. This system is used by all the projects to aid the pilot in real time and perform post-flight analysis. A version 3 is in the works with improved sensors, more powerful hardware and fly-by-wire capability. Used by ACC, RA, APA
Footprint: 70x40mm
Sensors:
There numerous sensors, including a GNSS module to measure ground speed, position and heading of the plane, an altimeter for centimeter level altitude measurement and an IMU and magnetometer that are used to estimate attitude via sensor fusion algorithms. This system is also connected to external accessories like our custom Power Board to read battery current and voltage or a Pitot tube for airspeed data.
System Architecture
The board uses 2 STM32 microcontrollers, the first one is responsible for data gathering data from the various sensor and perform data processing for real time telemetry via the external radio link, the second one is responsible for high-speed data logging to reduce load to the main microcontroller while managing the filesystem and writing data to the SD card.
Power Measurement System
This system is really useful to monitor power draw of airplane components like the electric motor from the onboard battery. This data is used to monitor power consumption with high accuracy useful to monitor the battery state of charge, estimate flight times and avoid penalties (for Air Cargo Challenge 2024/2026). Used by ACC, RA, APA
Footprint: 84x37mm (smaller version)
Measurement range:
-Current: 0-100A
-Voltage: 6-30V
System Architecture
The system is composed of a microcontroller featuring high resolution ADCs and an isolated voltage and current sensing circuit. This enables us to sense power while being completely independent from the noisy power rails, increasing our measurement accuracy and avoiding issues like ground loops. This board also includes a DC-DC converter to power on board avionics. A CAN enabled version is also used on RA prototype for bidirectional power monitoring
Solar Power System
This is one of the crucial pieces of the RA project, it extracts the maximum available power from solar cells with MPPT algorithms while safely delivering power to the plane battery, motors and onboard systems. It is also able to communicate with the flight computer for monitoring. Used by RA.
Footprint: 65x60x25mm (smaller version)
Power output: +1000W
System overview
This board uses cutting edge GaN semiconductors to provide a highly efficient voltage conversion from the solar array voltage to the battery pack voltage while also minimizing the overall footprint. This board also features CAN connectivity to communicate with other onboard systems and a high current 5V supply for avionics.
Motor testbench
This system enables us to perform motor testing before flight for a more precise performance estimation. Parameters like thrust, torque and power draw can be measured during a manual or automated testing procedure while safety is guaranteed by active and passive layers. Used by ACC, RA, APA.
6 acquisition channels
System overview
This system comprises an STM32 microcontroller which samples data from five load cell channels (for torque and thrust) and a rotary encoder channel for measuring RPM. The board also integrates with our custom Power Measurement System to measure power consumption and motor efficiency. The entire testing procedure is managed via computer software through an RS485 wired connection to ensure maximum safety and resilience to electromagnetic noise.