[Coco] CoCo vs EMP WAS--> Re: Coco Digest, Vol 24, Issue 48

[Mark Marlette]

Dean,

If you follow any of the Army/Navy programs. We were the prime on the
Crusader tank for the Army and we are the prime for the AGS 155mm gun
for the new DDx class ship for the Navy. We are also working on the new
FCS platform for the Army since they didn't want the Crusader anymore.
Sad because that tank had more fire power than the world had ever seen.
Awesome, is an under statement. When they moved them out of here
$2billion+ dollars later, they did it on trains. The tank's inside
tracks barely fit on the train car. Muzzle weighed 10,000lbs and was
water cooled. :) The motor control systems are VERY cool. Fun to
test...as long as they are good. Had some failures and cables burnt the
size of my arm. Huge power.

Oh, how this relates to the CoCo? The CoCo taught me how to do this
things....No kidding!

Regards,

Mark



Quoting Dean Leiber <adit at 1stconnect.com>:

> >Rad harden **might** still be a requirment for certain
> >devices/applications. I work for a defense contractor and we design
> >weapon system for the future. DOD has removed many of the
> requiremnts
>
> I used to work for a Defense Contractor myself and alot of the
> requirements we got were contradictory. We were designing a
> generator,
> which had to be RAD hard but the vehicle it went into had RAD
> hardness
> waved... fun times. Try and do 'Build-to-Print' with Gov Drawings
> sometimes. Instead of fixing an incorrect drawing alot of times you'd
> be
> issued a waver for your production lot. Then the next poor contractor
> had
> to go through the exact same thing. Sometimes this has been going on
> for
> 20+ years.
>
> Don't even get me started on 'Engineering Houses' who'd design stuff
> but
> don't build anything themselves. An example would be a hydraulic tank
> with gaskets on only SOME of the bolted on parts(leaks reported in
> the
> field...no kidding), a pickup tube which couldn't physically be
> installed
> (no one took into account the length of the threaded portion of the
> pipe)
> and a requirement that the unpainted steel top be free of oil for
> shipment (obviously, rust was found at the end
> destination...sigh...which
> was..you guessed it, cause for rejection of the shipment)
>
> On another project, the Gov Project managers kept being
> moved/replaced
> every 6 Monthes so there was no real oversight. Each new team made
> changes, alot of which contradicted/conflicted with the last team's
> decisions. At the end of the day, the company delivered a piece of
> junk
> which didn't meet all the specs and the gov didn't say a peep. I was
> a
> young naive engineer then...actually used to believe someone was
> paying
> attention.
>
> >for qualified parts. In the past we used ALOT of rescreened
> components.
> >Normal parts that are tested/screened and certified. Take a $0.25
> part
> >and it becomes $125. Commercial/Industrial parts yields are so good
> >that the add cost couldn't be validated. Most of the common
> electrical
> >assemblies are call COTS(Consumer Off The Shelf) components.
>
> I came in a little before COTS took off, but the company always used
> commerical parts where they could get away with it. The trick was in
> getting the whole assembly qualified;That way you didn't need to
> screen
> the individual parts. The really big change is the Gov no longer
> watches
> the processes anymore and just looks at the final product. This works
> fine for reputable companies who adhere to ISO standards, but the
> 'bottom
> feeders' were dancing with joy over that change.
>
> >
> >Control system is still our design. Electrical motor drives
> switching
> >1000A RMS at 650v 3 phase bus voltages.......... :)
>
> Hmmmm, sounds like you're working on the next generation vehicles
> with
> hybrid drive systems. Things are getting interesting in vetronics
> nowadays. I did work for things on the FAASV, MII3, Bradley, Avenger,
> AAAV (I think they renamed it) and a soft NBC vehicle for TRW. I'd
> love
> to poke my nose into the new robotic vehicles being developed.
>
>
> Dean
>
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