Automatic test equipment for avionics Electro-Mechanical Actuators (EMAs)

•Testing of linear electro-mechanical actuators for aeronautical applications.•Simulations of the aerodynamic force.•Multithreading technique for the execution of measurement and control tasks.•Research activity carried out in cooperation with Umbra Group Aerospace.

This research activity, carried out in cooperation with Umbra Group Aerospace, was focused on the design of an Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) adopted for testing innovative linear electro-mechanical actuators for flight control surfaces. The implemented ATE simulates the aerodynamic force applied to the surface by generating a hydraulic load opposing the actuator movement. During the tests, the system executes the measurement and monitoring of mechanical, hydraulic and electrical parameters as well as the dynamic control of hydraulic load simulator. In the paper the main ATE design choices are analysed, with particular attention to the test program, developed in NI LabWindows CVI environment. An innovative solution based on the multithreading technique has been implemented, to guarantee the correct execution of the required tasks and a precise time alignment of acquired data. The obtained results show a successfully communication and cooperation between the different sections of the system, according to the required performance. Additionally, experimental results related to EMA characterization tests are presented, as confirmation of the effectiveness of the proposed solution.