ATR uses Acra KAM-500 data acquisition equipment for regional aircraft certification.

1. ATR is the leading manufacturer of
50-to-74-seat regional turboprop
aircraft in the world with their
aircraft accumulating more than
20 million flight hours.
The System
Two 13U Acra KAM-500 chassis
were selected along with several
modules including Ethernet
backplane controllers, analog and
digital modules, synchro to digital
converters and ARINC-429 and
dual port Ethernet/AFDX bus
monitors.
The Results
• New team deliver their first
flight testing program on time
• Future proof, low risk solution
for current and future programs
• A reliable new test system
suitable for multiple aircraft
platforms
ATR uses Acra KAM-500
equipment for regional
aircraft certification
ATR42-600 & ATR72-600

2. COMMERCIAL OFF-THE-SHELF
MODULAR DESIGN
The System
Two 13U Acra KAM-500 chassis were selected
along with several modules including
• Ethernet backplane controllers
• Analog modules (with and without excitation)
• Synchro to digital converters
• ARINC-429 and dual port Ethernet/AFDX bus monitors
• Bi-level input modules with counters and time-tagging
• GPS/IRIG time input.
This was only the second time that AFDX was used on an
aircraft and the comprehensive support in the Acra KAM-500
system was important for the success of the project.
The Acra KAM-500 system was fixed and reconfigured several
times during the flight test campaign to accommodate
specific tests. Typically it took 30min to re-configure the
system with 48,000 parameters after receiving the Interface
Control Document (ICD).
Acra KAM-500
Lowers Risk
Proven on every platform type in
all environmental conditions
COTS hardware with short delivery
times
Reduces Cost of Ownership
Reduced inventory of spares due
to common product line
Lower installation, setup and
maintenance requirements
Modular design greatly extends
system lifetime
FTI by Design
Designed to minimize the data
transfer time from sensor to screen
Guaranteed predictable data
Simultaneous sampling occurs
across the complete system

3. HIGH QUALITY DOCUMENTATION &
RAPID SUPPORT RESPONSE
“Without the ease of use of
the Acra system ATR
would not have been able
to take on the flight testing
in the tight timeframe
available.
The Results I
New team deliver their first flight testing program on time
The ATR72-600 completed its flight test program and
gained certification on time and, at the time of writing,
the ATR42-600 is on schedule to do the same.
The inherent adaptable design of the Acra KAM-500
significantly reduced the time required to change
configurations.
At one stage in the program there was a change in the
avionics software and an evolution of the wiring.
The FTI team planned for 3-4 weeks to make the changes
and validate the new system set up.
It actually took only one day to make the change and
two more days to complete the validation processes.
Damien Roujas
Flight Test Engineer
ATR

4. ACRA CONTROL always has
an engineer on hand that
knows our system well, speaks
our language and responds
without delay. The excellent
level of support is one of the
reasons we keep coming
back.
The Results II
Future proof, low risk solution for current and future
programs.
The availability of a commercial off-the-shelf solution
from Acra ensured that the solution could be delivered
quickly and, in the event of changing scope, quickly
altered to ensure time-slips were avoided.
Acra’s experience with Ethernet lowered the risk of ATR
using these emerging aerospace technologies (e.g.
AFDX and Airbus’s IENA solution).
The initial system configuration of the Acra KAM-500
hardware was based on a PCM system. During the
program this was upgraded to Ethernet .
From a hardware perspective, the only action that was
required to convert from PCM into Ethernet was to
replace a single module and add an Ethernet switch.
“
HIGH QUALITY DATA
FLIGHT AFTER FLIGHT

5. WORKS ONCE
WORKS ALWAYS
The Results III
A reliable new test system suitable for multiple aircraft
platforms
ATR found that Acra was the only company that
offered true plug and play hardware where all that
was required was to plug in a new module in chassis,
run discover and program it.
This facilitated simplified system changes, for example,
to move directly to using the IEEE 1588 Precision Time
Protocol or to using AFDX.
ATR never encountered any failure in the Acra
hardware in 500 hours of flight tests with no bugs.
The system never resulted in any data being lost.

6. For more information visit
www.cwc-ae.com
Curtiss-Wright Controls Avionics & Electronics
cwc-ae@curtisswright.com
665 North Baldwin Park Boulevard
City of Industry, CA 91746, USA
Phone: 626-851-3100
Landscape House, Landscape Road
Dublin 14, Ireland
Phone: +353-1295-1264