Bloomy and NI announce HIL Technology Evolution Center for aerospace and defense organizations

Bloomy Controls Inc. (Bloomy), a specialist in test systems for the aerospace and defense industries, and NI (NASDAQ: NATI) have announced the establishment of an industry-first hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) Technology Evolution Center, which will be managed by Bloomy at the company’s headquarters in South Windsor, Connecticut. 

Line-replaceable units (LRUs) with integrated electronic controls and computers are ubiquitous in all aerospace and defense applications. To ensure reliable operation in all mission scenarios, these components are fully tested in the System Integration Laboratory (SIL) using HIL test systems that simulate all inputs and outputs to the vehicle during a mission. These test systems typically contain a mix of custom, legacy, and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies and must be guaranteed to operate for decades. The
 
HIL Technology Evolution Center helps organizations within the aerospace and defense industry reduce the risk and cost of migrating test assets to new technologies, including the adoption of new COTS hardware and software that can be converted, such as NI PXI, SLSC, and VeriStand, as demonstrated in the Bloomy Simulation reference system; it also allows for the evaluation of new test approaches without risking existing operational test assets. The center also serves as a low-risk proving ground for managing customers’ hardware and software obsolescence and developing validated deployment plans to keep existing test assets fully operational throughout their lifecycle.

 
“Building a test system in aerospace and defense is not a one-time event; supporting technology insertion, code migration and other maintenance needs to be considered for 10-15 years or even longer,” said Luke Schreier, general manager and vice president of NI’s Aerospace, Defense and Government business unit. “As NI’s offerings evolve to address complex LRUs and support our customers’ digital transformation initiatives, our partners will also work to realize this long-term value. We are pleased to work with Bloomy to establish this technology evolution center to help our mutual customers reduce overall program risk and cost.”

At the heart of the HIL Technology Evolution Center is a system comprised of a variety of state-of-the-art HIL/SIL technologies from multiple suppliers. Bloomy and NI engineers can use the system with customers to collaborate in real time, performing interoperability and integration testing with COTS technologies and customer components, models, and simulations. The system can be customized to replicate a variety of customer configurations, from fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft to unmanned underwater vehicles. This flexibility is critical for Bloomy’s customers, allowing their systems to adopt new technologies to increase fidelity, streamline workflows, and interact with digital twins—all key initiatives for model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and digital transformation. The center also enables Bloomy to fulfill long-term service agreements based on customers’ lifecycle and uptime requirements.
 
“Our customers are facing numerous challenges in maximizing existing test assets, including digital transformation, interoperability, obsolescence and retiring experts. They want not only the latest and greatest COTS technology and benefits, but also long-term stability, uptime, maintenance and support,” said Peter Blume, president and founder of Bloomy. “The HIL Technology Evolution Center is the only lab of its kind that enables companies in the aerospace and defense industry to benefit from the latest COTS test technologies in a controlled environment with the assurance of long-term support and stability. Providing this unique support capability to Bloomy and NI customers demonstrates our shared commitment to our customers’ long-term success.”