CONDOR refers to the Data Evaluation, Configuration, Recording and Distribution System with substantial improvement of safety in manned and unmanned flight operations at CIAR. It is a set of tools to achieve a reduction in the time required for the preparation of tests, which implies cost savings both by reducing downtime and by allowing the comprehensive operation of a set of really specific and complex equipment if they are operated individually.

A significant improvement in the quality of test tracking is also achieved by reducing the number of setup and configuration problems that a facility with this equipment inherently suffers from.

In addition, it allows exploitation from remote locations, real time or playback, thanks to an innovative tool for coding to the latest standards and recording of data generated in the CIAR, which increases its exploitation options and attractiveness to potential customers.

Finally, CONDOR increases safety in the test operation, through a set of software and hardware tools that allow early detection of potential risks, monitoring of threats and development of procedures that include the steps to be followed by operators in the event of a crisis situation in line with several of the U-Space recommendations, framed in phases U1 and U2, such as GEOFENCES management, and integration with traditional flights and joint monitoring.

The CONDOR System consists of:

• CONFTEST: Automatic Equipment Configuration and Testing Solution. It is a self-test and automatic configuration software.
• GRADIS: Data Recording and Distribution. It includes a recorder and a distributor of the data obtained in a test.
• SERVO: In-Flight Safety Solution. It includes a case designed to operate on the airfield, the application of geofences in Smart Radar and to enslave the telemetry antenna to radar data, among others.

Main features

• Facilitates the operation of the equipment that is part of the CIAR Assets.
• Ensures the availability and correct operation of key equipment in the performance of tests, ensuring that they can be completed with the required safety and accuracy.
• Facilitates the export, archiving and delivery to clients of data acquired through the Center's equipment in an expedited manner.

• Allows the remote use and exploitation of such data acquired and processed, in real or deferred time, with the consequent reduction of costs and expanding the possibilities of exploitation of the center and its potential commercial attractiveness for external customers.
• It implements a HW and SW solution for the communication of alerts to the control center in case of a threat to the safety of people or assets near the center.
• CIAR becomes not only the best equipped flight test center, but also:

• the most reliable and easy to configure thanks to the CONFTEST tool,
• the most attractive in terms of data export, storage, recording and playback possibilities thanks to the GRADIS tool, and

the safest for certification testing thanks to the SERVO tool.

CONFTEST allows the control center operators to check the status of the system by performing verification tests on the main subsystems to verify their correct operation. The performance of these tests generates savings in time and cost, in addition to guaranteeing in the preparation phases of the tests an optimal state of all the equipment to be used during the tests.

It consists of a control software that allows the creation of a distributed and decentralized Mission Configuration, Monitoring and Review system which allows the configuration and initialization of the CIAR equipment set for a given mission or prototype flight in an intuitive and fast way. It also provides an overview of the health status of the equipment required for the test while performing self-testing tasks.

The objective of GRADIS is the recording and subsequent playback of a test, as well as the transmission in pseudo real time of the desired channels. In this way, it allows the collection of data from various systems of the control center to facilitate its delivery to the CIAR user or the storage, and the visualization of the tests from locations outside the CIAR. It is therefore a tool that allows the recording and transmission of network packets from the various data/video sources of a test.

The recording takes place while the test is carried out and allows to have all the flight development in a single file to be able to "play" it later at any location.

The "playback" consists of broadcasting to the network the previously recorded packets stored in the recorded file so that the test can be relived and any event can be reviewed for all purposes. Regarding data distribution, GRADIS allows to export in a hierarchical way the different results after the completion of a test.

The main objectives of this tool are, therefore:

• To facilitate the export of acquired and processed data at the end of the tests reducing the delivery time to the CIAR user and its hierarchical storage.
• To enable local or remote use and exploitation of data and video broadcasts from other INTA locations in real time and playback.

SERVO adds functionalities to the Smart Radar interface, among them:

• Tracking of the directive antenna (slaved with data from the secondary radar) to the target according to the angle calculation obtained from the known position of the antenna and the position sent by the target transponder.
• To slave the directive antenna to the GPS position data received by telemetry.
• To establish a geofence for the test area. If the aircraft under test exceeds this geofence, another aircraft enters this geofence or the safety distance established with any other aircraft is breached, an alarm is generated in the SmartRadar software of the CIAR Control Center.
• In addition, an emergency activator is available, with a button that can be activated in case of need, even before the geofence is exceeded. This is especially interesting for platforms without a transponder.
• A portable case suitable for transporting to the area of operation is available, consisting of several HW and SW elements for communication with the Control Center, which has an integrated omnidirectional antenna that allows such connection, as shown in the image. In this way, the operator can use this case to visualize the traffic in real time (Smart Radar software integrated) or to visualize any other channel of the Control Center, having also available the emergency button that can be activated from its position, triggering the emergency procedure.