AMETEK Abaco Systems FORCE2C Mission Computer Achieves DO-254 and DO-178C Safety Audit Certifications

FORCE2C Mission Computer certifications significantly reduce risks to aircraft designers by cutting development costs and time to market

The FORCE2C mission computer from AMETEK Abaco Systems has passed its final hardware and software SOI reviews and has been officially approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Along with the mission computer, all artifacts for certification are now available and comply with the airborne certification guidelines of DO-254 and DO-178C for fixed and rotary wing aircraft (crewed and uncrewed) and are also approved for ground-based applications.

The independent audits confirm compliance with applicable airworthiness regulations for the electronic hardware and safety-critical software. Additionally, the FORCE2C conduction-cooled, electronics hardware is suitable up to Design Assurance Level (DAL) A. This is the highest level of design assurance applied to airborne software and hardware and is required when a failure or malfunction could contribute to a catastrophic failure of the aircraft.

Mike Underwood, division vice president and business unit manager for AMETEK Abaco Systems, says the certifications significantly reduce electronic system risks to aircraft designers looking for high performing, small form factor mission computers.

“The DO-254 and DO-178C certifications give our customers new competitive advantages by reducing the time it takes to get their aircraft certified and, ultimately, to market,” he says. “This COTS mission computer will help them potentially save years and millions of dollars developing and integrating systems in new aircraft.”

At the heart of the FORCE2C is the QorIQ-based SBC314C single board computer (SBC). Based on the Power Architecture T2081, with manufacturer’s availability out to 2035, the SBC features four processing cores within the power envelope of previous dual core boards and 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM memory.

Extensive I/O make the rugged line replaceable unit (LRU) FORCE2C ideal for a wide range of high performance, low power avionics applications where DO-254 certification compliance is required. The comprehensive I/O capability in the FORCE2C Mission Computer includes a RAR15XC 3U VPX avionics communications I/O card (MIL-STD-1553 and ARINC 429), serial I/O and Ethernet modules.

The FORCE2C Mission Computer is also suitable for applications developed according to the principles of the FACE™ (Future Airborne Capability Environment) Consortium. The FACE Consortium is leading the development of open standards for avionics systems.