FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Paragon Robotics awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to develop a wireless MIL-STD-1553 interface to fully maintain avionics systems.
Bedford Heights, OH - August 27, 2020
Paragon Robotics has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 contract with the Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO) to design a wireless MIL-STD-1553 interface which would allow the Air Force and other defense branches to fully maintain avionics systems without the need for any cables or custom hardware. Working with the Air Force Automatic Testing Systems (ATS) group, Paragon will demonstrate their cutting edge wireless technology on various ATS systems across a range of aircrafts. The Phase 2 work is intended to result in a wider application of wireless systems throughout the ATS product portfolio.
During Phase 1 of the SBIR contract, Paragon Robotics completed a feasibility study of wireless MIL-STD-1553 links replacing current wired cable connections. Conducting interviews throughout US Air Force (USAF) and US Marine personnel and researching use cases for MIL-STD-1553, Paragon was able to jointly establish a wireless technology design and plan for validation in Phase 2.
Aircraft maintenance and testing involves the use of numerous testing systems, each often including specialized tester cabling to connect an avionics system with a dedicated testing device. These test cables are often expensive, bulky, and fault-prone, contributing to significant sustainment costs and productivity issues. By potentially replacing these cables with secure wireless link pairs, tremendous cost and usability improvements are possible. Furthermore, by effectively incorporating digital "man-in-the-middle" hardware, powerful new features such as data recording, playback simulations, and testing automation can potentially be added to any existing test system. Future test workstations could also potentially interface directly with the wireless link components, eliminating the need for any custom test hardware whatsoever, further reducing sustainment costs for maintenance activities.
Paragon Robotics has sold over 5000 wireless hardware devices to hundreds of commercial customers utilizing our technology platform. These products are utilized in markets ranging from energy efficiency monitoring (large energy service companies such as Ameresco, Lockheed Martin, etc), building management systems (BMS) (heating and air conditioning integrators), process controls (manufacturers such as Schneider Electric, etc), and energy microgrids and resilience (Dept of Defense installations).
In addition, our wireless systems are also extensively used in critical monitoring applications around product warehousing and cold storage including vaccines and medical supplies with software designed to meet government regulation reporting requirements.
For additional information on our monitoring applications, solution options and customer case studies, please visit our product applications and solutions page .
