Award winners to exhibit magnetic test bench at DSEI

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7 September 2005 News

Danie Gouws, Herman Theron and David Wright, members of the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory (HMO) recently received a prestigious Design Excellence Award from the Design Institute of South Africa (DISA), a division of the SABS. The award was presented for the magnetic test bench, a system developed at the HMO. The three were responsible for the design, electronic/software engineering and the mechanical engineering of the system.

Funding has been obtained from the DTI to exhibit the test bench and other magnetic sensors at the Defence Systems & Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition, to be held during September 2005 in London.

From left: minister of Trade and Industry, Mandisi Mpahlwa, Danie Gouws, Herman Theron, and chairman of the SABS Council, Prof Sibusiso Vil-Nkomo, at the awards ceremony

The magnetic test bench is an avionics test apparatus used for the calibration and verification of mechanical and electronic aircraft compasses and compass components before installation in aircraft. The compass under evaluation is positioned stationary while a generated magnetic field is rotated around it, simulating an aircraft compass swing, ie, a procedure used for the calibration of aircraft compass systems. This eliminates the wasting of man-hours and aircraft fuel during problematic compass swings due to faulty compass components.

The product consists of several highly sophisticated subsystems: a specialised coil system is used to cancel the ambient magnetic field, and to generate a rotating magnetic field at the centre of the coils. The ambient field to be cancelled by the coils is measured with an accurate electronic compass or magnetometer. The system also includes a microprocessor with application-specific software, data-acquisition card, voltage-to-current analog electronics, power supply and user interface.

Currently the magnetic test bench systems are in use at Langebaanweg, Ysterplaat and Waterkloof Air Forces bases, and will possibly be offered to the civilian aviation market later.

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Award winners to exhibit magnetic test bench at DSEI

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