The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded avionics company uAvionics a Technical Standard Order (TSO) from the FAA truFYX Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS)/Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) capable GPS is the first to specifically target UAS platform navigation and surveillance solutions.
The FAA has previously TSO-certified truFYX technology in several form factors, including uAvionic’s integrated skyBeacon, tailBeacon and tailBeaconX platform.
A certified position source for UAS navigation reduces position error by implementing a strict Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM)/Fault Detection and Exclusion (FDE) engine, and processing advanced SBAS messages designed to improve accuracy and integrity. These systems combine to detect unhealthy GPS satellite transmissions and remove them from the position calculation, providing critical differentiation from a typical commercial GPS receiver. Design Assurance Level (DAL) C software and hardware is achieved through the use of RTCA DO-178C and DO-254 engineering processes. As with all uAvionix TSO certified avionics, truFYX is manufactured in Montana under an FAA Manufacturing Inspection District Office (MIDO) approved quality control process and facility.
The TSO-C145e Class Beta 1 GPS weighs only 20 grams, which includes the receiver, antenna, and DO-160G power supply, and interface protection circuits. A Class Beta 1 GPS enables the truFYX to be the primary position source for domestic en-route and terminal navigation, as well as the primary position source for ADS-B OUT solutions. The Source Integrity Level (SIL) 3, System Design Assurance (SDA) 2 system ensures reception and processing by Air Traffic Control (ATC) and Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) when used as a position source for ADS-B. For these reasons, the Airbus Zephyr program was announced as a truFYX launch customer in January 2021, says uAvionix.
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