Saving resources with new standard hardware - Liebherr-Aerospace
The box that Frank Kronburger is holding in his hands is barely bigger than a tin for snacks. But it has a lot going for it. "It's a Remote Electronic Unit, or REU for short," says the Chief Engineer of the Electronics division at Liebherr-Aerospace.
"A wide variety of aircraft sensors can be connected to it and their signals analysed." Many individual electronics are installed in an aircraft. "REUs are usually developed specifically for each application according to customer specifications," he explains. "The box for the sensors on the engine is therefore different to the one for the landing gear." The Liebherr team from Lindenberg wanted to change this and began standardising the REU in 2009.
Small, compact and robust at the same time
This was no easy task. The REU presented the team with several challenges. The electrical engineer remembers:
The box had to be really small and compact so that it could be installed in all the necessary places in the aircraft
he says. "That was probably one of the biggest challenges." And it had to be equipped for the wide range of environmental conditions that an REU would encounter in use on an aircraft. "We looked at the sealing concepts, for example, as the electronics box is also installed in very demanding areas such as the wing or in the landing gear bay," explains Frank Kronburger. "We analysed this intensively and invested a lot of time in it."
The engineers had to subject the newly developed REU to intensive testing to ensure that a wide variety of sensors could be connected to and read out in later use. For example, they not only investigated how to evaluate all possible sensors with standardised hardware, but also whether this would work robustly enough in later use, he says. However, a key element of their project was the algorithms used to analyse the sensors. Unlike customised solutions, these small programmes not only had to work for a specific task, but also provide the basic functions for the new standard.
Liebherr-Aerospace
"There were always weaknesses," he recalls. "There were setbacks and we had to go back to design. So it was an evolution in which we developed our standardised REU." The aviation research programme (LuFo) supported them in this process. The development spanned no fewer than four funded projects. "Research and development is rarely straightforward. There are setbacks. But we have always been able to rely on LuFo," he says. "It is a significant support for a company when an external party says: We believe in your vision and will support you. "A strong network promotes innovation.
"There were always weaknesses," he recalls. "There were setbacks and we had to go back to design. So it was an evolution in which we developed our standardised REU." The aviation research programme (LuFo) supported them in this process. The development spanned no fewer than four funded projects. "Research and development is rarely straightforward. There are setbacks. But we have always been able to rely on LuFo," he says. "For a company, it's a significant support when an external party says: We believe in your vision and will support you."
Strong network promotes innovation
The development of the standardised remote electronic unit was completed in 2019. Now they worked flat out to ensure that the child of their minds was ready for series production. The box has now achieved this and attracted its first customers. At the end of the year, the electronics engineer reveals, the first units will go into active service in the aircraft.
It's great to see that our concept seems to be working
he is pleased to report. "There are already various orders, for example for use in nose landing gear control or flight control." This reinforces the Liebherr team's conviction that they are on the right track with standardisation. "This saves resources and is therefore sustainable." Frank Kronburger estimates that the time required to develop an REU is now a third of what it would have taken to customise one in the past. Instead of time-consuming hardware design, today only the software needs to be adapted to the various applications.
Without LuFo, he believes that there would be far fewer such developments. In addition to the financial support, the network is also an important pillar, he says, emphasising above all the exchange with colleges and universities, but also with other companies. "Liebherr-Aerospace has been involved in all six LuFo funding programmes and we have benefited a great deal from them," he says. "We have always been able to sharpen and further develop our product visions with technologies developed as part of these research funding programmes. For us, this is a very important pillar of our research and development work."
Text: Kai Dürfeld
Projektträger Luftfahrtforschung
Contact:
Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH
E-Mail: info.lli@liebherr.com
Telephone: 08381 46 – 0
www.liebherr.com/aerospace