Bengaluru-based izmo Microsystems has developed an Indian-made pitch detector and completed its defence qualification, parent company izmo Limited announced on November 3.
A pitch detector measures an aircraft’s nose-up or nose-down attitude and supplies correction information to its gyromagnetic compass navigation system. In its company announcement, izmo said the component is used in military aircraft and helicopters that remain in service.
The subsidiary developed the replacement after irregular supplies from the overseas manufacturer created difficulties, according to the company. It said its engineers worked without the original design documents, updated the electronics and produced a compatible component at its Bengaluru semiconductor-packaging facility.
The milestone covers development and qualification rather than a newly disclosed bulk supply contract. The announcement does not identify individual aircraft platforms, an order value or a delivery schedule.
The project illustrates the practical challenge of keeping older platforms supported when imported parts become difficult to obtain. izmo says its work brings electronics design, packaging, manufacturing and testing into one domestic development programme.
Archive illustration: a circuit board photographed on August 1, 2009, not the izmo pitch detector. Photo: Chiara Coetzee / Flickr, CC0.
