Appareo, which manufactures low-cost and lightweight flight data monitoring equipment, is adding a new product line called Conexus Aircraft Communication Units (ACUs). The new units both collect and transmit flight data to the operator or aircraft manufacturer. The ACU-200 is Appareo’s first Conexus ACU, available for fixed-wing and rotorcraft applications, and it is already being installed in customer aircraft.
The flight data monitoring data collected by the ACUs is helpful for operators’ flight operations quality assurance (FOQA) programs or for aircraft manufacturers' statistical analysis and predictive maintenance programs.
Inputs to the ACU-200 include Ethernet, Arinc 429, and RS422. Flight data for FOQA comes from onboard inertial and GPS information, but the ACU-200 does not need to interface directly with avionics. Cybersecurity protections are built-in, and the ACU-200 is qualified against RTCA DO-160G environmental testing standards.
To send data, the ACU-200 is equipped with 4G/3G/2G cellular data connectivity, so there is no need to download data onto a device or memory card after a flight. When the aircraft is powered down, the operator can remotely connect to the ACU-200 to retrieve data.
Appareo’s Vision 1000 audio and video recording systems and RDM-300 crash-hardened storage system can interface with the ACU-200 for offloading video and audio and safely storing captured information.
“More than ever, the world recognizes the importance of making data work for us,” said Appareo president and CEO David Batcheller. “By developing the Conexus line of telematic and connectivity products that can perform alone or be integrated with our other flight data recording and storage solutions, Appareo is offering an approachable, expandable way for customers to access their data and put it to work.”