MANUFACTURERS OF CUSTOM, HIGH PRECISION INSTRUMENTATION AND SUPPORT EQUIPMENT
Projects
- Lidar and Directed Energy Components
- Complete Lidar/Active Instruments
- Raman Airborne Spectroscopic Lidar (RASL)
- LVIS
- Micro-Pulse Lidar
- THOR Lidar
- Phasers - Prototype Holographic Atmospheric Scanner for Environmental Remote Sensing
- HARLIE (Holographic Airborne Rotating Lidar Instrument Experiment) Hemisphere Scanning Stage
- High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL)
- GOLD
- 2-micron CO2 Lidar
- DAWN AIR1
- Support Equipment
- Aircraft Installations
- ER-2 Doppler Radar Data System Enclosure
- Cloud Radar System Data System Enclosure
- King Air Rear Cargo Area Riser plate and electronics racks
- King Air 4-bay electronics rack with shock isolation
- RSP Instrument installation in King Air
- HSRL instrument installation
- 400mm aperture window port for King Air HSRL-247-X
- Raman Airborne Spectroscopic Lidar (RASL)
- RASL segmented window and external heat exchanger
- LVIS installation in King Air
- MASTER installation in King Air
- HiWRAP in WB-57
- Complete Passive Optical Instruments
- RF Instruments
- Single Point Diamond Turning
- Space-based Instruments
Cloud Radar System — Data System Electronics Enclosure
The box is 17"W x 16.75"H x 10.6"D
Time Period
August 2001 to October 2001
Project Description
The Cloud Radar System was designed to fly on the NASA ER-2 aircraft. We designed an enclosure for the data system electronics cards, power supply, and hard drive. The design needed to fit into the tight space of the ER-2 Super-Pod mid-body.
Similar boxes had problems with condensation forming on their electronic components: the electronics cooled to below freezing when the ER-2 flew at a 65,000-foot (19.8-kilometer) altitude, and water condensed on the electronics as the aircraft descended to a warmer and more humid altitude. To address these problems, we designed a sealed enclosure with twelve fans that continuously circulated air inside. This evenly distributed heat from the electronics to other areas. Hot spots were cooled and the system stayed warm enough to prevent condensation.
panel, and hard drive removed
Since a sealed enclosure could cause overheating during operation on the ground, we designed adjustable vents that allow outside air to be pulled into the box, blown across the electronics, and vented outside. If necessary, the vent area could be adjusted so that outside cooling air entered the box during flight.
We also designed a new handle for an existing sealed hard-drive enclosure. This new hard drive used a cam-mechanism to reduce the force required to remove the hard drive from its connector.
Challenges and Lessons Learned
During fabrication, we expanded on the knowledge gained during our work on a previous data system enclosure. To save time and reduce costs, fully-dimensioned drawings were produced only for simple parts. Also, only critical dimensions were indicated on the drawings of more complex parts. The 3-D computer solid-model files were used to generate code to control the CNC machining process. We learned that this saves time during the drafting phase of a project and reduces fabrication costs and errors.