September 17, 2009

Dynon Avionics Stabilizes a Space Elevator

Well, of course, real space elevators are somewhere between many and infinite years away, depending on who you ask. But that's not stopping some enterprising folks from running The Space Elevator Games to help develop the concept and technology that are need to make them real. Sponsored in part by NASA, there's some decent cash awards up for grabs!

So how does a Dynon EFIS-D10A fit into all this? Well, the "space elevator" is simulated by hovering a helicopter at a fixed point in above the ground, with a steel cable tether playing the part of the elevator. Teams then build vehicles that can move payloads up and down the simulated "elevator". In order for this to work at all, the helicopter needs to be at a fixed point in space in order to keep the cable stationary. Enter the Dynon. With it's stabilized magnetic heading readout, the Dynon first allows the pilot to stay pointed in the the direction he desires. Next, with a GPS connected, he gets a wind vector on the EFIS display, helping him figure out which direction is the best one to be pointed in (into the wind). Next, the pilot programs a waypoint into an external GPS, but uses the Dynon's superior HSI display with its large CDI and bearing pointer to hit his mark. Here's a video of that process in action:

For more detailed information on the technical challenges and how the Dynon EFIS-D10A is employed, see the Space Elevator Games site.