Dear all, my thanks as always for any insight you feel able to share. This is really just a "spreadsheet" or "back-of-a-napkin" question: I want to understand what remote-control circuit breakers (RCCBs) would cost an aircraft builder, but I'm - in many ways - an aircraft ignoramous; an armchair-general at best.
1. Question: What's the cheapest way to integrate remote-controlled circuit breakers for avionics?
2. Context:
a. I started reading about this because some of my own personal interest is in tandem a/c. Manually operated CBs can easily be reached by only one pilot. Remote Control CBs would make it straightforward to allow any position to control electrical load.
b. I realise this is out-of-scope for this forum, but there may be a use-case for UAVs where the flight engineer or pilot must manage electrical systems remotely, or - if communication is unreliable - the a/c itself would benefit from being able to load-shed autonomously. If I ended up developing or prompting development or integration of something "new", it'd be a fine thing if it had broad application.
c. The MakerPlane open-source aircraft group have recently highlighted the work of someone using their "pyEFIS" code to display the output of a computer running PX4 AHRS/autopilot software. Such computers, with redundant CPU, & triple-redundant accelerometers & gyroscopes are mass-produced (certified example [only DAL-C though], uncertified example [intended for r/c aircraft]). The a/c I imagine is a day-VFR platform with a full set of essential instrumentation that would receive a secondary power supply from a backup bus, and has a whole-airframe-parachute: any MakerPlane-inspired EFIS would be for redundancy only. I realise this comment implies something beyond the scope of the question I pose, but remote circuit breakers must have a human interface.
d. Reading about traditional RCCBs (single-wire control) online suggests prices (across RCCBs domestic/industrial, automotive, & aviation) in the $60 (domestic/industrial, refurbished) - $260+ (new, MIL-PRF-83383E) bracket.
e. The Wago/PhoenixContact CAPAROC product line seems as if it might provide a solution for ~$1200, although this assumes that (i). that an industrial circuit breaker is acceptable to the aviation authority in a given airframe, and (ii). that a controller or EFIS could be produced that could manage the CBs via the ProfiNET protocol. I can't find any documents describing an API for it, so if it looked like a good solution, I'd have to outsource integration with, presumably, the PX4 software, or perhaps a bridge to an aviation protocol.
3. Extant options of which I'm aware : Vertical Power VP-X ("Sport" ~$1700), Advanced Flight Systems (~$2750), MGL Electronic Circuit Breaker (~$500).
4. Other details: This is a bit pie-in-the-sky, so please don't take it too seriously. I'm at *least* a decade away from having time to act on any plans. Part of my motivation for asking is also that when I see an expensive component, I just *really* like to know how much it would cost me to string something like that together myself, especially if doing so would allow me to avoid the use of proprietary protocols. Another part is that I, as many others, see very carefully selected and programmed mass-produced microelectronics as a route to a cheaper aircraft panel, or at the very least a route to cheaper redundancy in an aircraft panel.
5. My answer: I think the answer for a one-off project is the MGL ECB, notwithstanding the cost of their fancier EFIS. For production of multiple aircraft, I think the CAPAROC approach is probably worth further investigation, as it can scale up at ~$20 per extra CB. This might make the weight, volume, and sunk-cost of programming worth it, especially if one ever wished to sell a training a/c to a government (MGL do not license their product for military use).
As always, I treasure your thoughts; especially those that carefully explain exactly why I'm wrong
Yours,
Al
1. Question: What's the cheapest way to integrate remote-controlled circuit breakers for avionics?
2. Context:
a. I started reading about this because some of my own personal interest is in tandem a/c. Manually operated CBs can easily be reached by only one pilot. Remote Control CBs would make it straightforward to allow any position to control electrical load.
b. I realise this is out-of-scope for this forum, but there may be a use-case for UAVs where the flight engineer or pilot must manage electrical systems remotely, or - if communication is unreliable - the a/c itself would benefit from being able to load-shed autonomously. If I ended up developing or prompting development or integration of something "new", it'd be a fine thing if it had broad application.
c. The MakerPlane open-source aircraft group have recently highlighted the work of someone using their "pyEFIS" code to display the output of a computer running PX4 AHRS/autopilot software. Such computers, with redundant CPU, & triple-redundant accelerometers & gyroscopes are mass-produced (certified example [only DAL-C though], uncertified example [intended for r/c aircraft]). The a/c I imagine is a day-VFR platform with a full set of essential instrumentation that would receive a secondary power supply from a backup bus, and has a whole-airframe-parachute: any MakerPlane-inspired EFIS would be for redundancy only. I realise this comment implies something beyond the scope of the question I pose, but remote circuit breakers must have a human interface.
d. Reading about traditional RCCBs (single-wire control) online suggests prices (across RCCBs domestic/industrial, automotive, & aviation) in the $60 (domestic/industrial, refurbished) - $260+ (new, MIL-PRF-83383E) bracket.
e. The Wago/PhoenixContact CAPAROC product line seems as if it might provide a solution for ~$1200, although this assumes that (i). that an industrial circuit breaker is acceptable to the aviation authority in a given airframe, and (ii). that a controller or EFIS could be produced that could manage the CBs via the ProfiNET protocol. I can't find any documents describing an API for it, so if it looked like a good solution, I'd have to outsource integration with, presumably, the PX4 software, or perhaps a bridge to an aviation protocol.
3. Extant options of which I'm aware : Vertical Power VP-X ("Sport" ~$1700), Advanced Flight Systems (~$2750), MGL Electronic Circuit Breaker (~$500).
4. Other details: This is a bit pie-in-the-sky, so please don't take it too seriously. I'm at *least* a decade away from having time to act on any plans. Part of my motivation for asking is also that when I see an expensive component, I just *really* like to know how much it would cost me to string something like that together myself, especially if doing so would allow me to avoid the use of proprietary protocols. Another part is that I, as many others, see very carefully selected and programmed mass-produced microelectronics as a route to a cheaper aircraft panel, or at the very least a route to cheaper redundancy in an aircraft panel.
5. My answer: I think the answer for a one-off project is the MGL ECB, notwithstanding the cost of their fancier EFIS. For production of multiple aircraft, I think the CAPAROC approach is probably worth further investigation, as it can scale up at ~$20 per extra CB. This might make the weight, volume, and sunk-cost of programming worth it, especially if one ever wished to sell a training a/c to a government (MGL do not license their product for military use).
As always, I treasure your thoughts; especially those that carefully explain exactly why I'm wrong
Yours,
Al
