BLACK BOX
&
IT’S
APPLICATION
S
REPRESENTED
BY –
• SUSMIT SARKAR
CONTENTS
 Introduction
 History
 Applications
 Salient Features
 Car Black Box & its Components
 Aircraft Black Box & its Components
 Future Prospects
INTRODUCTION
In science and engineering, a black box is a device,
system or object which can be viewed in terms of its
input, output and Transfer Characteristics without any
knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation
is "Opaque" (black).
HISTORY
First prototype was
produced in 1956 by
David Warren of the then
Aeronautical Research
Laboratories of
Melbourne, with civilian
aircraft in mind, for
explicit post-crash
examination purposes.
Original 'Black Box'
ARL Flight Memory Unit
APPLICATIONS
 Aviation(Data Recording
Device).
 Automobile Manufacturing
( Cars and Other Vehicle).
 Message Case in Ships.
 Future Aspects.
SALIENT FEATURES
Can withstand a prolonged exposure to a
1,110°C fire for an hour and 260°C heat for 10
hours (Aircraft).
Able to operate between -55° to
+70°C(Optimum Temperature).
 Carries a minimum 25 hours of recording
data(Aircraft or Car).
Usually bright orange in colour.
CAR BLACK
BOX
What is a Car Black
Box?
MVEDR (Motor Vehicle Event Data Recorder), known
as Vehicle Black Box. GM and Ford are known to
have released vehicles equipped with MVEDR. By
recording the events and actions before the collision,
the car black box will help in reconstruction of the
events before the accident.
Why Do We Use it?
These devices were originally designed to monitor the
activation of the airbags, which in turn saves the driver
from fatal injury.
The car black box records the speed, acceleration,
sudden turns, breaking and other important actions of
the driver shortly before the collision.
How Does It Work?
 Black Box features a
camera as well as a GPS
unit which collects the
performance data such
as accelerating, braking
and is stored
automatically to
a secure
digital (SD) and can be
reviewed on a
computer.
BLACK BOX COMPONENTS
FUNCTION OF
DIFFERENT
COMPONENTS
1. GPS ANTENNAE
Space-based
satellite
navigation system.
Provides
location and
time information in all
weather conditions.
The
final location is
being projected on the
screen.
2. CAMERA
Records
Interior and
Exterior Video.
Records
Interior Audio.
Presence
of IR LEDs,
supports night
recording.
3.IR LEDs
Wavelength
700nm-1mm.
Conversion
of ambient light
photons into electrons that
are then amplified by a
chemical and electrical
process into visible light.
Night
Vision Surveillance.
OTHERs
Interior Microphone.
Image Sensors.
AIR BAG SENSORS
Three Parts:
I. Bag II. Sensors III. Inflation System.
ADVANTAGES :
 Cheap Car Insurance.
 Accident Investigators.
 User Friendly & Easy Installation.
 Location of any Places by means of GPS tracker.
 Night Vision Surveillance (IR LEDs).
DISADVANTAGES :
Privacy Concerns.
Hardware Malfunctioning with time.
CONCLUSION:
In-vehicle monitoring (black box) technology is
rapidly increasing across the globe, with many
different forms of this technology now available.
Essentially they monitor how, when and where a
vehicle is being driven, record the data and provide
an analysis of it as feedback to the driver and other
parties. It has great potential to significantly improve
driving standards and reduce crash and casualty
rates, over the years to come.
AIRCRAFT
BLACK
BOX
What is an Aircraft
Black Box?
An Aircraft Black Box is a flight recorder used to
record specific aircraft performance parameters,
such as acceleration, altitude, etc. Moreover it is
also used to track any ambient noise in the
cockpit, such as switches being thrown or any
knocks or thuds, by means of a Cockpit Voice
Recorder (CVR).
Why do we use it?
They do nothing to help the plane when it is in
the air, but these equipment are vitally important
when the plane crashes, as they help the crash
investigators to find out what happened just
before the crash.
What is it made of?
i.
Aluminium Housing
ii. High-temperature Insulation
iii. Stainless-steel Shell
iv. Mounted on a Steel plate
Inside the Black Box:
Flight Data Recorder(FDR).
Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).
FLIGHT DATA
RECORDER
It is an electronic device employed to record
any instructions sent to any electronic systems
on an aircraft. It is a device used to record
specific aircraft performance
parameters.
Popularly referred to as a "black box" by the
media.
HISTORY
First Generation Foil Recorders (1950).
Second Generation Tape Recorders (1965).
Third Generation Solid State Recorders (1990).
FOIL RECORDERS
In 1958 came into existence.
Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8.
 To record the actual
conditional parameters of the
aircraft, i.e., heading, altitude,
airspeed, vertical accelerations,
and time.
.
 Parameters mentioned were embossed onto a
metal foil (Incanol Steel).
Each single strip of foil capable of recording 200
to 400 hr of data.
This metal foil was housed in a crash- survivable
box installed in the aft end of an airplane.
In 1965, the recorders were upgraded from their
original specification of 100g impact to 1,000gs.
Boeing 707
The
canister in the tail
containing the FDR.
The
FDR inside the
canister.
TAPE RECORDERS
. Introduced in the 1970’s.
Magnetic Tape as the
recording medium.
It is 300 to 500 ft long and
can record up to 25 hr of
data.
The first product to use this
was the Cockpit Voice
Recorder (CVR).
The Fairchild CVR were part of this second
generation of recorders.
Magnetic Tape Recorders have the
potential to record up to 100 parameters.
SOLID STATE RECORDERS
Became commercially practical in 1990
Storage of data in semiconductor memories or
integrated circuits, rather than using the older
technology of electromechanical methods of
data retention.
The SSFDR, Model F1000, was the first certified
flight recorder to use this new technology.
Includes Digital Data Transmission systems
which convert the base data inputs into a
binary signal, i.e. a pulse which represents
either an “on” or “off”, or specifically a “1” or
a “0.”
EVOLUTION
COCKPIT
VOICE
RECORDER
A device used to record the audio environment in
the flight deck for accidents and incident
investigation purposes. It records and stores the
audio signals of the microphones and earphones
of the pilots’ headsets and of an area microphone
installed in the cockpit.
HISTORY
Edmund Boniface
invented the CVR in
1961 while he was
an aeronautical
engineer with
Lockheed California
Company.
INTERNAL VIEW
COMPONENTS
Aircraft Interface Board
Audio Compressor Board (CVR only)
Acquisition Processor Board
Under-Water Locator Beacon
1.INTERFACE BOARD
Introduced in the late 1980s.
A data link interface was
introduced between the ACARS
management units and Flight
management systems.
Enables Flight plans and
weather information to be sent
from the ground.
2.AUDIO COMPRESSOR
The audio data collected from:
i. Pilot's Headset
iii.Co-Pilot's Headset
iv.Third Crew Member Headset
iv.Centre of the Cockpit
AUDIO WAVEFORM
The recorded waveform is reduced to differing extents
for transmission with or without some loss of quality by
means of audio compression board.
3. ACQUISITION BOARD
Components
i.Transducer Sensor
ii.Signal
Conditioning
iii.ADC
iv.Multiplexer
D ATA A CQUISITION S YSTEM .
Converts acquired data send from the ground to
ACARS management to Raw Binary Data, used
for FDR Data Listings and Data Plots.
4.UNDERWATER LOCATOR
BEACON
It’s a device fitted to
CVR and FDR. When
triggered by water
immersion, the ULB
emits
an ultrasonic pulse of
37.5 kHz at an
interval of once per
second.
COMPONENTS
Wet Button
Power Source (9 Volt Lithium Battery )
Pressure Sensor
Acoustic Transmitter (10 Hz and 1 MHz)
OVERVIEW
Distress Call utilizing ULB
Mission Control Centre
Search and Rescue Satellites
Rescue Centre.
Terminal
DATA RECOVERY
 Undamaged FDR data is being downloaded by
connecting a PC to the FDR and downloading the crash
survival memory unit contents.
SURVIVAL TEST TECHNIQUES
 Crash Impact
 Static Crush
Fire Testing
 Salt Water Submersion.
 Fluid Immersion
Other Techniques
 Deep Sea Submersion
 Pin Test
ADVANTAGES:
 To trace the reason behind Plane Crash
 Improved Air Security
 Not easily damaged
 Easy Installation
 Less Space Requirement for Installation
DISADVANTAGES:
Hardware Malfunctioning
Sometimes memory may get crashed
Highly Expensive
CONCLUSION
An Aircraft Black Box mainly comprises of FDR
and CVR. Both the FDR and CVR are invaluable
tools for any aircraft investigation. These are often
the lone survivors of airplane accidents, and
provide important clues to the cause that would be
impossible to obtain any other way. As technology
evolves, black boxes will continue to play a
tremendous role in accident investigations.
FUTURE PROSPECTS
As technology continues to develop it is
likely that Black Boxes will become more
and more sophisticated and more reliable,
giving Air and Car Crash Investigators
more to go on when painstakingly trying to
piece together what has caused such
accidents.
THANK
YOU