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The U.S. Air Force operates Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) sites in Greenland, Great Britain, and Alaska. The BMEWS site at Clear Air Force Station (AFS), Alaska, uses a large tracking radar (TR) system as part of the hardware complement required to perform its mission. The TR uses a very large moveable dish and supporting control systems designed to operate with the radar to acquire and then track a target moving through space.
An integral part of the TR is a synchro-resolver assembly, an angle processing system that uses a combination of:
This assembly works in combination with several nested control systems to eliminate errors in the position of the antenna with respect to programmed positions or detected target positions. Data taken directly from the synchro-resolver assemblies form the basis for target trajectory plotting in the BMEWS and the ultimate determination of the presence and nature of a potential threat.
The synchro-resolver assemblies have become reliability risks and require significant amounts of maintenance of the angle processing systems. The U.S. government contracted with Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to design and develop a functional replacement of the synchro-resolver assembly using modern technology. SwRI first developed a type C1a prime item product function specification.
After U.S. government acceptance of the specification, SwRI designed, fabricated, and tested three synchro-resolver replacement assemblies. The new design utilized microcontrollers to perform a transfer function that mimicked the dynamic functionality of the existing motor and gear train. This approach allowed SwRI to develop solid-state functional replacement of the synchro-resolver assembly. In addition to functional testing, acceptance testing included:
SwRI also delivered procurement documentation and a user manual.
For more information about electro-mechanical replacement (synchro-resolver assembly) capabilities at SwRI or how you can contract with SwRI, please contact Tom Untermeyer at tuntermeyer@swri.org or (210) 522-5040. We can offer you the best approach for solving your communications engineering problem.
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| Communications and Embedded Systems Department | Automation and Data Systems Division | SwRI Home | |
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Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is a multidisciplinary, independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with 11 technical divisions. |
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September 30, 2008 |
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