Introduction. Microair is a privately owned company which has seen steady growth each year since its commencement in 2000.

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2 Introduction Microair Avionics is based in Bundaberg, Queensland. Microair has grown from a small 4 person company to now employ more than 20 technicians and assemblers, in a modern electronics manufacturing facility. Microair is a privately owned company which has seen steady growth each year since its commencement in Microair is a design and manufacturing company for a wide variety of electronic projects. Microair is producing VHF radio, UHF transponder, and altitude encoding avionic equipment for use in general aviation and ultralight aircraft. Microair s production also includes data logging and sensor equipment for soil monitoring, GPS/Satellite messaging for logistic tracking and radar site monitoring equipment. Microair s design team has wide experience in the development, certification and manufacture of electronic products. Microair s manufacturing capacities also extend to a range of peripheral equipment such as enclosures, harnesses, and bracketing which can be essential when delivering a whole of product solution. Microair is committed to providing a complete concept-to-product service, to enable our customers access to design solutions which best suit their needs. Phil Ainsworth Managing Director Microair Avionics

3 Hardware Design Microair is able to offer design services for all aspects of a project, not just the electronic components. Microair can develop complex electronic designs, and house them in custom designed enclosures and chassis hardware. Microair can also develop peripheral items such as harnessing and bracketing, to give the customer a complete solution to their needs. All electronic design is done in Altium Designer 6 (formerly PROTEL), and offers exacting standards for circuit design and PCB layout. Microair is able to offer a very fast 8 week turn around from concept to a loaded and tested circuit board, utilizing both through hole and SMT components. Chassis hardware or enclosure design is done in Inventor which offers complete 3D modeling to ensure correct fit and assembly before the first example is cut. Microair s design team can easily produce chassis hardware in sheet metal, CNC milled aluminium, plastic, or composite materials. The production of detailed items such as tactile keypads and knobs are also designed and manufactured. All of Microair s design data is held secure, with each design item controlled by revision status, and a quality controlled change process.

4 Software Design Most modern electronic designs now have a software component to them. Microair is able to offer software and firmware development for embedded solutions in microprocessor and microcontrollers. The Microair team can also develop PC based applications to support embedded software and firmware with test and validation processes. PC based applications can also be developed for training purposes. Programming for microcontrollers and microprocessors requires great attention to the architecture and resources of the target device. Microair s software engineers have a close working relationship with the hardware design team members, to ensure that developed software integrates successfully.

5 Research & Development Microair s design team is able to take a client s concept or partly designed project, and complete it. Microair does this by first creating a detailed specification with the client, to define the form, fit, and function of the product.. With the specification complete the design team then breaks the design down into sub-assemblies and starts the research process to determine the key components of the design. The subassemblies are prototyped and tested to ensure they meet the design specification. A full prototype is then fabricated and tested. It is often necessary to think outside the square, to achieve the required design performance at the desired build cost. Microair considers the build cost to be a design parameter. If the build cost does not come within the specification s budget, the design must be reworked to reduce the build cost. This often means looking at fresh, innovative designs to keep control of the build cost. Sometimes R&D can take Microair s design team out of the lab to some very interesting places to test new products.

6 Logistics Many complex projects fail or become too expensive if they are not logistically managed from the very beginning. The cost of a project is as much a design item as electrical or physical performance. Microair s design team has an extensive list of suppliers in Australia and around the world. Strict control, is kept over the project s Bill of Materials (BOM), to ensure the build cost is known throughout the design process. Once the design process is completed the logistics management process is able to accurately program a start to production. Material management and control is a big part of Microair s quality system. All incoming and outgoing components, parts, sub-assemblies, and complete articles, must be identified and inspected against design data before acceptance or despatch. Only after a consignment has passed acceptance test can it be moved into Microair s controlled storeroom. Storeroom resources are allocated from logistical databases for R&D or production.

7 Manufacture Microair is able to manufacture PCB design on both large and small scale production runs. Microair uses a batching process to ensure that all manufacture is quality controlled. The batching process is used for unit production runs, and even for the very small 1-10 unit batches for prototyping. All manufacturing processes are fully documented in a Production and Assembly Manual (PAM). The PAM consists of data references and Work Instructions (WI) that define the assembly of the product. Quality inspections are inserted into the process as additional WI s to ensure correct assembly. The assembly process typically ends with a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) to determine if the completed article meets the original design data performance. Microair is able to fabricate harnesses and wiring to Mil-Spec, General Aviation, or simple automotive standards. Wiring can be soldered or crimped (using a variety of systems) to a customer s specific requirements.

8 Transceivers M760 Transceiver The M760 model is currently at Revision Q. The Q model introduced a new data interface to allow the M760 to operate with modern avionics equipment. Since its initial release in 1998, over 12,000 M760 s have been manufactured at a rate of approximately 1000 units per year. The M760 typifies the Microair design principles of small, lightweight, low power consumption, and low cost. The M760 has fitted easily into a variety of aviation roles, due to its performance, easy installation, and low cost. The M760 is CASA approved through an APMA. This approval has been accepted by the following countries. Belgium Canada Czech Republic Japan New Zealand South Africa Sweden United Kingdom USA FCC Approval

9 Transponders T2000SFL Transponder The T2000SFL model is currently at Revision 7. Revision 8 is due for release and will provide upgraded features for altitude reporting Since its initial release in 2000, over 4000 T2000SFL s have been manufactured at a rate of approximately 500 units per year. The T2000SFL design meets the Microair design principles of small, lightweight, low power consumption, and low cost. The T2000SFL is CASA approved through an ATSOA. This approval has been accepted by the following countries. Austria Belgium Brazil Czech Republic Denmark Holland Germany Italy Japan Spain Sweden United Kingdom USA The T2000SFL development was only possible with the support of an AusIndustry R & D Start grant, issued to Microair Avionics in R & D Start allowed Microair to apply expertise to a large project, which would not have been possible for a small company to attempt.

10 Transponders T2000UAV Transponder Microair was quick to recognize the growing market opportunity for UAV transponders, and has developed a substantial customer base from the world s UAV manufacturers. This product is only sold directly to the UAV OEM s. The T2000UAV uses common components from the T2000SFL (minus the display assembly). The T2000UAV employs dedicated software, which allows UAV OEM equipment to operate the transponder in the same way as a manned aircraft. A new version of the T2000UAV was developed to further reduce the weight of the current design by as much as 20%. Encoders EC2002 Altitude Encoder The EC2002 altitude encoder is a solid state design with temperature compensation achieved through software control, rather than by the traditional mechanical heater solution. This feature significantly reduces power consumption and should substantially extend service life. Since its initial release in 2007, over 800 EC2002 s have been manufactured at a rate of approximately 500 units per year. The EC2002 is the smallest altitude encoder available in the market today, with the lowest power consumption. The EC2002 has initially been released as an uncertificated product. ATSO certification is scheduled. It is expected that there will be ongoing markets for both certificated and uncertificated models.

11 Collaborative Projects Microair Avionics and Air Services Australia (ASA) Radar Dual Site Monitors Microair has appointed CPS National, a significant radar company as distributor of this product for export markets. CPS National comprises a team of highly trained engineering and project management professionals who have many years experience within both the civil and military aviation environment. CPS National team members have worked in seven different countries on numerous radar types and models produced by five different radar manufacturers. Microair was approached by Air Services Australia (ASA) to develop a modern SSR Site Monitor unit for their SSR radar system. Their existing site monitors are around 30 years old, parts are no longer available and ASA requires additional features to be incorporated. ASA s requirement is around 40 units plus 5 units to enable military radars to be brought within ICAO requirements as part of the GENESIS program to integrate Australian and civil military air surveillance systems. This product will have an international market and already Microair has received orders from one USA major radar equipment supplier to integrate Microair s unit into their systems. The T2000DSM utilizes two T2000 series transponders (T2000MON) which have been developed from the successful T2000SFL transponder. The T2000MON was developed to meet the specific operation need of the SSR radar environment.

12 Collaborative Projects Microair Avionics and IndigoSat Aircraft Tracking and Messaging IndigoSat approached Microair Avionics for assistance in the development and production of a satellite based GPS tracking and messaging system for aircraft. IndigoSat required Microair to produce the finished article to an Australian Parts Manufacturing Approval (APMA) issued by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). This credential was essential to IndigoSat s plans to market the article worldwide. The resulting product was the Indigo One Satellite tracking / messaging unit. Indigo One provides aircraft operator and fleet managers a high level of asset management in real time. Indigo One has been rolled out successfully in Africa, and has been successfully launched in Australia with RFDS. The United Nations (UN) food and medical relief programs in Africa now require all aircraft operating under the UN flag to have GPS tracking to improve the security and safety of its staff.

13 Collaborative Projects Microair Avionics and T-Systems Australia In Field Sensors Microair developed a close working relationship with Bundaberg based company Crop Tech Pty Ltd and worked with Crop Tech to develop a range of remote sensing and transmission stations, targeted at the agriculture market. Since production started in 2006, over 500 Field Data Stations have been manufactured. These units are now operating throughout Australia, and Thailand. A small number are being trialed in the US and Europe. The FDS system has been credited with significant increases in farm yields, coupled with reductions in the consumption of irrigation water. Crop Tech has subsequently been acquired by a large (US based) international agriculture company. Their intentions are to expand the FDS to include a wide variety of sensors, and market the system worldwide.

14 Quality Microair Avionics operates to the Microair Avionics Quality Assurance Manual (MAQA). This manual defines the principles and methods by which Microair shall conduct its affairs. The MAQA contains Microair Avionics Procedures (MAP s) which define specific policies and procedures for the various aspects of Microair s operations. The Microair Avionics quality system is approved under the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Regulation (CASR) Part 21, and holds an Australian Parts Manufacturing Approval (APMA) from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

15 Support Microair also holds a CASA CAR-30 maintenance approval to provide ongoing service and repair. It is essential to the successful commercialisation of a product that it has after sales support from the manufacturer. Microair supports all of the products which it manufactures, with service and repair. Products manufactured by Microair under the Microair brand name, or on behalf of external customers have been approved to a variety of civil standards such as; CE mark, UR, C-tick, ACA, and FCC.

16 For more information about Microair Avionics please contact our Sales and Marketing Manager, Carol Bretag. Microair can ensure that you or your organisation can contact the appropriate Microair staff member to discuss your project. Microair can also arrange for non-disclosure agreements to be put in place to protect your intellectual property (IP). Phone Fax Website Microair Avionics Capabilities Statement - 01R6.doc