1702. Edwards’ Automated Weight and Balance System
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Paper
Abstract
The concept of automating aircraft weight and balance tasks is by no means new and in the authors opinion, one of the most suitable and needing applications existent with regard for automation. There is a saying, ”A lot of things are good for a computer, but a computer isn’t good for a lot of things”; this is one ”thing” for which a computer is definitely ”good”! Since the actual formulas involved in tracking and computing aircraft weights and moments are relatively simple, the main focus of this paper will revolve around the techniques used in interfacing the different aspects of this application, and how this was done with such flexibility that our system will work completely for almost any aircraft in the DOD inventory. A stated above, the suitability of aircraft weight and balance automation is glaringly obvious. Consequently, quite a number of programs/systems have surfaced and are in use. Why is the Edwards’ system so popular and what sets it apart? As of this writing, the system is in known distribution to over 110 organizations with no negative feedback. The major reasons given to answer the previous question are: User-friendliness, Comprehensiveness, Flexibility, and Reliability. In this paper, we will try to address some of these characteristics though some of them amount to a lot of just plain hard work.
