Avionics News June 2013 - 22

THE ELECTRICAL-SYSTEM MANAGER
Continued from page 21

craft Electrical Power Management-Maximizing Utility Function Integration with
Solid State Power Control.”
“The development of the microprocessor controlled power MOSFET switch, as
a circuit protection device for aircraft electrical power systems, has led to significant
improvements in packaging, performance
and thermal efficiencies over traditional
thermal/mechanical systems. The electronic circuit breaker inherently provides
multiple functions (protect, sense, diagnose
and control). Employing the ECB as a ‘live’
switching element in the system for active
control, provides for significant integration
of functions, previously requiring separate
LRUs (line replaceable units), additional
wiring and more power to operate. This paper proposes an optimized electrical power
distribution via intelligent control of electronic circuit breakers to provide maximum
integration of existing utility management
functions (i.e. window heat, de-icing, thrust
reversers, etc.), reduction in aircraft wiring,
reduced system weight and complexity.”
The paper proposes what the engineers
at Vertical Power are already doing for the
experimental market, while Airbus and
Eclipse Aerospace employs their own integrated solution for electronic management
of electrical power.
The Advance Continues
Most technicians working today’s modern piston aircraft largely face the same
challenges of the pre-glass-cockpit revolution.
The analog approach requires different
circuits for different functions, whether current protections are shared individualized or
shared among several devices.
Now consider the capabilities of Vertical Power’s experimental and light-sport
systems and the simpler wiring and safety
potential of devices like the VP-X.
First up, Vertical Power’s VP-X inte22

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2013

grates with many popular EFIS products
enabling the pilot to monitor and control
an aircraft’s entire electrical system on the
EFIS display. So the pilot can use the EFIS
display to monitor electrical-system health,
view and control the status of individual
circuits, act on circuit faults – all while still
employing the EFIS as it was designed – for
attitude, navigation and engine information.
The VP-X’s ECB still protects the individual circuits like old-fashion thermal
circuit breakers. But the ECBs allow configurable capabilities unavailable through
breakers.
For example, the ECB can detect a
burned-out landing light or disable the starter circuit while the engine is running.
Vertical Power’s VP-X supports a single
bus electrical architecture configured with
either a single or dual alternator. The VP-X
also can measure the voltage of an auxiliary
battery.
During maintenance or updates, technicians working with an electronic manager
like the VP-X would find each electrical
device wired directly to the VP-X – not
through a breaker on a bus.
For example, you would run a power
wire from the VP-X directly to the landing
light, another to the EFIS and another to the
transponder. Run a bundle of five wires to a
trim servo. Run two wires to the flap motor,
and so on. Run a small wire from each trim
switch, the flap switch and panel switch to
the VP-X.
Vertical Power’s software and setup
menus run on the EFIS to allow configuration of the system. Specify which power
pin each device is connected to, the circuit
breaker values and which switch should
turn each device (or group of devices) on
or off. And you can use any type of switch
you like to match your panel.
The system also allows the pilot or technician doing the programming to program
trim servos and autopilot power, flaps and
lights – anything the box handles through
its array of ECBs.
Garmin, Dynon and Grand Rapids Technologies are among the vendors to adapt to
Vertical Power’s hardware.

For example, Garmin’s GDU 37x
cockpit display software for the G3X system was updated to work with the VP-X
system.
It’s one of the advantages noted in the
Astronics Corp. paper on ECBs – the ability to monitor and control of individual
functions and circuits managed by an electronic-power management system via electronic flight information system hardware
running compatible software.
ECBs also can detect short circuits, overcurrent conditions and open-circuit faults.
They also reduce the number and weight of
wires, old-style breakers and the hardware
to support standby systems.
Another sign of ECBs’ and “intelligent”
power management’s broadening acceptance: Bye Energy Inc. tapped Vertical
Power to develop an advanced power management system for Bye’s “Green Flight
Project” to create an electric-hybrid propulsion system targeted at a new generation of
aircraft.
Bye Energy wants Vertical Power’s
technology to manage and optimize the aircraft’s electrical-power use while reacting
intelligently to electrical-system demands.
As in automobiles, an aircraft powered
by an EHPS should enjoy significantly
lower direct operating costs as well as exhaust emissions, but still deliver comparable range and endurance.
A Look at the Differences
Any technician who ever tackled updating the analog panel of a pre-glass airliner
or business jet knows what a jumbled spaghetti mess they often find, as well as the
challenges of updating and maintaining
the miles of wires between devices and
their power busses and thermal-electrical
breakers.
Technicians of the future will face fewer
such complications when updating modern
business jets, such as Bombardier’s Challenger and Global models, Cessna’s new
Citation X, Dassault’s innovative Falcon
7X and Gulfstream’s award-winning G650.
All, to some degree, employ ECB and electronic switching in both power production

Avionics News June 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News June 2013