Produce a navigation system that provided RTK precision with roll, pitch and heading at 20Hz
The output data would be broadcast from Mike Mangold’s Zivko Edge 540 aerobatics plane in the Red Bull World Series Abu Dhabi race in March, 2006 to overlay a real race over a virtual image of previous practice and competition runs
The hardware had to weigh under 1kg, operate to 12G and withstand 20G whilst qualifying for an airworthiness certificate
Solution
We commenced flight testing in January, 2006 at St. Neots Airfield in Cambridgeshire
We worked with NovAtel who modified the firmware to operate at 12G instead of 2G.
Working with Pi Research (now Cosworth) and an aerobatics team we tested the system constantly over a three week period
The end result enabled us to generate a 12G INS system that gave decimetre in-flight performance and weighed less than 1Kg when housed
The GPS equipment was housed in a light metal CPUpak case specially designed for strength and weight whilst the IMU was housed in a Forsberg lightweight magnesium housing
Data was displayed in special F1 style display software showing roll rates, accelerations, position, speed all projected over a virtual 3D-view of Abu Dhabi