1. ARINC Real-time protocol translation A project for Icelandair
Guðmundur Viktorsson
ARINC Real-time protocol translation A project for Icelandair

2. Purpose and scope
The end-goal is for Icelandair to have a way to measure landing “smoothness” of passenger planes.
The project is to develop a device capable of reading data off the ARINC717 data bus, commonly used to transmit data from different flight control systems to the plane’s “black box”, and output selected information packets on to the ARINC429 data bus.
The device will not process the data in any way other then what is necessary for forwarding the data.
Similar commercial systems exist from various manufacturers but most come with a steep price tag.

3. Time plan and phases Phase I: Phase II:
Electrical interfacing to ARNIC717 standard
Circuit design, signal conditioning
Microcontroller software to read data from the circuit
To be completed as a final project in Mechatronics I
Developing of unit test
Both hardware and software
Phase II:
Real-time forwarding according to the ARNIC429 standard
Prototype to be delivered in spring 2012

4. About the development process
First order of business will be to create and issue a project statement so that everyone is one the same page.
Computers will be used extensively to simulate circuits before implementing.
Good care will be taken to document the process thoroughly.
“Certifiability” of each component will be considered as the project progresses

5. Some open issues For Phase I: In general:
What voltages and connections are present in the airplane?
Are there (non-trivial) restrictions on the physical dimensions of the box?
Should a separate circuit board be etched for the ARNIC717 interface, or should the 429 circuit be on the same board?
In general:
How much on-site configuration should be available?