2015 IEEE 12th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments ICEMT'2015

Design of a missile launcher test system based on virtual instrument

i 2 i i
Wang Chenggang , Li Baogang , Yang Fan , Sun Jing
I. Department of Basic Experiment, Naval Aeronautical and Astronautical University, Yantai 26400 1, China
2. Department of Ordnance Science and Technology, Naval Aeronautical and Astronautical University, Yantai 26400 1, China
Email: topwcg(jj)163.com

Abstract In order to meet the requirement of development and

-

field test, a missile launcher test system is designed based on II. OPERATION MECHANISM OF
virtual instrument and PCI bus. The composition, working
principle, hardware and software structure of the system are SYSTEM
introduced. Some key techniques, such as multithreading
technology, signal processing and data storage under
A. System Structure and Working Mechanism
LabwindowslCVI environment are expatiated. It has been used
in development and experiment of a new missile launcher. According to the performance characteristics of a
Application proves that the system has the advantages of easy
new launcher and the requirement of design task, the
implementation, high reliability and good operability.
Keywords - virtual Instrument; PCI Bus; test system;
test equipment must be small and light. It can simulate
multithreading both aircraft and missile work environment to conduct
a comprehensive test of the launch device. The
I. INTRODUCTION principle of the system is shown in figure 1. Test
equipment and missile launcher are connected to form
Launcher is an important part of a missile weapon a closed loop system. It tests aircraft, missiles and bus
system; its role is to carry the missile on the aircraft, communication interface and provides diagnostic
ensure interface connection with other system and information of launch device.
i
control the whole launch process of missile[ l. As an
important part of rail type launcher, electrical
components inside the launcher undertakes power
supply, launch preparation, and identifYing missile
23
through commutating with aircraft avionics system[ - 1.
Launch control box is the core of electric control
equipment, including bus interface with the computer
system and control function circuit, the ignition circuit,
Missile
launch timing control, etc., are used to implement the Interface L':::::===::::J
communication between the aircraft and missile,
Fig. 1: Schematic diagram ofthe test system
complete missiles preparation and launch.
In the development and production stage as well as Major functions of the system can be summarized
in the field environment, it has become an urgent need
as follows:
to achieve convenient testing and maintenance, keeps
in good technical condition and play the greatest ( 1) Simulate control sequence of launch device;
effectiveness in the missile weapon system. It is (2) Simulate signal and timing of the aircraft
necessary to develop launcher test system.
weapon bus;
We applied Virtual Instrument (VI) technology to
develop missile launcher test system. VI makes most (3) Check the correctness of launcher interface with
of the available resources to realize the total functions aircraft electrical interface and missile electrical
of the common instrument and some functions that can
interface;
not be performed by common instruments. The system
can test electrical properties and electrical components (4) Test technique state of launch device circuit box
(circuit box, power box) quickly and conveniently. It and power box;
can simulate various fault state of missile launcher
(5) Detect launcher bus communication function
device and test fault reporting capabilities. It makes
the technical staff to carry out protection and and serial communication function;
maintenance of the launcher device conveniently. (6) Simulate all kinds of fault state of missile and

978-1-4799-7071-1/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE

aircraft to detect fault report ability of launcher.

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2015 IEEE 12th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments ICEMT'2015

Based on the analysis of principle, functions and discrete control signals, which doesn't include bus
signals.
signals, combined with major working environment
1553B bus module can simulate airplane fire
(Mainly used for functional testing and performance control system to receive and send Bus signal and
testing inside and outside the field before launch judge whether the signals transmitted through 1553B­
bus between airplane and missile launcher are accord
device manufactured) of the launch device and test
with the data transmission standard.
equipment, fully take into account the cost of the ARINC429 bus module is used to simulate missile
equipment control requirements and ensure to communicate with airplane through launcher device,
and also receive signals from other systems, such as
expansibility, we design the virtual instrument test
INS. It can judge whether the signals transmitted
system based on PCI bus architecture. Main signals of through ARINC429 bus between missile and launcher
the launcher include digital quantity, analog quantity, are correct.
With the modules above, the hardware integration
switch quantity and bus signal. The structure of the
not only meets the needs of the system software, and
system is shown in figure 2. has certain extensibility and openness for farther
development.
Missile Launcher Test System
The system crate is water-repellent, crashworthy
-
"d
r:/l
and dustproof, which is suitable for harsh
0
::I c
"d 0 � environments, can be widely used in field test and
0 §" �
"0

t§:
"0
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.....
:l. V1
.j:>.
� ..... (p �
� w
tv
0 � 0
(p � co
\0
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n co co -
0
CJ> (Jq B. Software Structure Analysis
n co 0 0
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P" 0
3
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(1)
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According to the functions, software system can be
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p.. � n n
V>
(1)
p.. 0
"0 � divided into different software modules. It includes
.., (1)
V>
(p system initialization, system self-test, system
calibration, default setting, system help, return and
AC,DC Power Supply
close modules. Each calls the corresponding function,
and test system executes a test item according to the
user's operation. The structure of the software system
is shown in figure 3.

s:::

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-0
C/O
=-:> '-; <3
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Missile Launcher ....
<=> � CD
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1
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..... ...,

J. �
=-:> <=>
Fig. 2: Block diagram ofthe system s a CD [ CD
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;=+.

Hardware function module is made up of data

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acquisition module, signal generation module, three­ s::: -""
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=-:> 6 e: �,

til �
phase alternating current test module, digital I/O ...... So
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f!- '" 5i
a- g
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module, I553B-bus
=-

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module and ARINC429-bus =
...,
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4 g- ,.., "'" CD
module[ l. S CD "'"
= "'" CD =<
"'- aq

Data acquisition module, which is used to measure

� "'"'
<:;T' ....... '" �
�
the analog input signals, can measure audio frequency <=> = t::J t::J
til
�
I I" I"
=-:> 5" 0..
..... .....
=-
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and other analog signals, such as alternating and direct o...
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current voltage signals, analog control signals, etc.
<=>
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Signal generation module provides the missile <=> = 6'
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= 0...

launcher with some stimulating signals, such as analog InstruITlcnt drivers

control signals, fire signal and power supply signals. Fig. 3: The structure diagram of the software system

Three-phase alternating current test module can

C. Software Platform Design
measure the parameter of the three-phase alternating
The system design has used the integrated
current signals. 5]
development environment of LabWindows/CVI[ . It is
Digital I/O module can receive, send and deal with
a virtual instrument development platform, which aims
part of the digital signals, such as address signals and

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2015 IEEE 12th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments ICEMT'2015

at computer-oriented monitoring and control field, is

32-bit based on C language and produced by National
Instrument Company. It provides a variety of smart ( Start )
interface generation, programming and debugging
tools. Therefore, through LabWindows/CVT
development platform can greatly simplity
programming workload and achieve data acquisition, System Functional System
control, display, and process integration. Especially, Self-Test Testing Calibration
with the aid of its signal processing capability in
advanced analysis library, we can analyze and process
acquired data expediently. And it also has the Cable identification
advantages of strong versatility and easy to transplant. Test mode automatic judgment
Moreover it can greatly shorten the development cycle
and save development costs.
Launcher detecting must meet the control box and
the power supply box testing requirements. For the r 'Tl
-
Ul
Ul
.j::o
N
�
;:-c

() ().... ::;:.... ..,

w
launch device, detection should be suitable for control r' C 0 �. \0
:l 1:0 1:0
box. When power supply box tested, test equipment is �:l :r (I) (I) 1:0 �
rJl
C

....
(I)
only required to simulate airplane to provide power :l'" CO �
rJl
�
(I)
CO 0 0 � 0
supply box with three-phase AC power supply and 0 ;< 0.. 0 :l
control signal, DC power signal detection power
supply box should be given.
.... .... .... .... ..,
-l
(I)
rJl
;<
-l
(I)
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(I)
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0 ....
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0
5'
5' (Jq
The launcher equipment detection includes launcher (Jq

control box and power box testing requirements, and

can be applied to the detection of the launch control
box. Power box testing requires test equipment to
apply three-phase AC power for the power box and Test Information Display
detect DC power signal of power box.
Two wires are set inside the test cable socket. When
the DUT connected to the cable outlet plug, software
can identity the current status of this test cables
through two lines and determine the function test
6
mode automatically[ ].
According to the function analysis of the software,
the basic process of the software is shown in figure 4.

III. SYSTEM KEY TECHNOLOGY

REALIZATION y

A. Automatic Fault Simulation Bus Monitoring

Data Storing Test Report
For the launcher test system, it is necessary to
detect fault report ability. Thus, the integrated test
system should simulate all kinds of fault state of
missile and airplane related to the launcher system.
Fault simulation function is developed in the system,
7 Fig. 4: The basic flowchart of software platform
using physical simulation[ ] and TCD modification to
set up fault and simulating fault state of airplane and
B. System Self-test and Calibration
missile, testing fault detection and processing capacity
of launcher. Tn order to increase the testability and reliability, we
Tn the test course, we can inject faults manually or develop a set of cable covers, which can build a
automatically according to the need of actual state closed-loop system. With the rich and high precision
simulation. The launcher test system can provide instruments and signal resources, the system can fulfill
appropriate information of missile or airplane. With self-test and calibration conveniently. The block
this function, the comprehensive working flow can be diagram is shown in figure 5.
verified and the entire function can be tested.

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2015 IEEE 12th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments ICEMT'2015

processing threads, so as to complete the

Missile Launcher Test System corresponding data processing functions.
Combined with Labwindows/CVI and
"'d
o asynchronous timer, adopted the flexible setup time
�
(1)
interval method, realizing the real-time parallel
processing, finally met the precise control system and
o automatic test indicators.
C/l

� D. Automatic Real-time Data Storage

0"
C/l
()
o Because the conventional ways of reports
1:)
(1)
C/l generating based on LabWindows/CVT platform with
shortcoming of being nonstandard and hard to typeset,
AC,DC Power Supply a new approaches of template reports generating is
presented. The technical principle is as follows:
(I) Create word template for report

I�C��'Jjl
First, create a new word document with file name
testdata.doc. Fill the test item in the word document
according to the experimental requirements and report
Fig. 5 : Block diagram of self-test and calibration
format. Secondly, according to the reporting
Using the rich signal resource, the system can requirements, add bookmarks into a good template,
realize self-test each module of the system and mark out appropriate place at corresponding
location for test data and conclusion, record
C. Multithreading Technology
bookmarks names. Finally, save the report template,
9 ll
Launcher testing process need a large amount of store in root directory of the project[ - l.
data collection and analysis of these data include Tn order to avoid the template be modified illegally,
analog signals, multi-channel digital signal, high-speed the attribute is set to "read only".
bus signal, while guarantee the real time and reliability (2) Report generation and program design
of system data, the system requires a high degree of Put the corresponding instrument driver files and
maintainability and testability. Tn order to ensure the header files into the project. Load the driver files in
real-time performance of the system, make full use of ProjectTree window. WordReport and Microsoft Word
the operating system resources, this article adopts 9.0 ObjectLibrary will appear in the instruments of
multi-thread technology to realize the data acquisition, LibraryTree window. And then, we can choose the
processing and transmission system, to ensure the function to generate reports.
accuracy of work timing system, realize the launchers IIDefine handles of word routine, document, and
each performance monitoring, fault diagnosis and cursor.
comprehensive test. static CAObjHandle appHandle=O;
Software in the main thread used to run the user static CAObjHandle docHandle=O;
interface, the time demand of the operation run on the static CAObjHandle currSelHandle = 0;
thread is higher, such as data acquisition and IICall MicrosoftWord application and word report
8
processing, and analysis[ 1. In the user interface for template document
operation, the operating system will be thread switches, WordRpt_ApplicationNew (VTRUE,&appHandle);
provide the time needed to complete the task for other char fileName[300];
threads. Of all the concurrent threads, the thread GetProjectDir (fileName);
responsible for data acquisition thread priority is strcat(fiIeName, " \testdata. doc");
second only to the user interface thread. Adopt WordRpt_DocumentOpen(appHandle, fileName,
multithreading between the key problem is the thread &doc-handle);
of data protection, that is, the operation to prevent IILocate the cursor position to "bookmark", and fill
multiple threads at the same time the same variable, in the blanks with corresponding data by the automatic
lead to logic errors. This system adopts the thread safe measurement and control program.
queue, setting up multi-threading mutex object For example, "dhtime" is the name of the bookmark
mechanism to protect the shared data, thread in word template, set in advance. Now fill the test
synchronization and communication, realize the variable dhcount in dhtime. The code is written as
security of data transmission between threads. In follows:
establishing a thread-safe queue at the same time set Fmt(reportstr,"%s<%d", dhcount);
the callback function, when there is a thread to add WordRpt_ GoToBookmark (docHandle, "dhtime"»;
data to the thread safe queue or read data, immediately II move cursor to bookmark "dhtime"
trigger event callback function, these functions in data

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2015 IEEE 12th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments ICEMT'2015

WordRpt_AppendText(docHandle, reportstr); // fill REFERENCES

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
has been used in development and experiment of a new
missile launcher. Application proves that the system
Wang Chenggang was born in Yucheng, China, in 1976.
has the advantages of easy implementation, high He received his MS, BS and PhD degrees from Shenyang
reliability and good operability. It shortens the Institute of Aeronautical Engineering (Shenyang), Naval
development cycle effectively and detects design Aeronautical and Astronautical University (Yantai), in 1998,
defects early. The system played an important role in a 2004 and 2009, respectively. Now he is an Associate Professor
new missile launcher model development. in Department of Basic Experiment, Yantai. His research
interests include intelligent guidance, fault diagnosis, PHM,
testability verification and valuation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We would like to take this chance to express our

sincere gratitude to researcher Huang Hao for his
kindly assistance and valuable suggestions on the paper
and the development of the missile launcher test system.

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