Rfa Minnesota Engineering

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When McNally Industries, a contractor for the U. S. Navy, was asked to redesign and improve an ammunition loading training simulator, they called on RFA/Minnesota Engineering for assistance. McNally was a natural choice for the Navy because of the company ’s familiarity with the ammunition loading process. McNally ’s knowledge comes from having manufactured ammunition hoists since the late 1980 ’s. These hoists elevate ammunition (shells) from magazines two or three decks below to guns topside. Besides being a part of naval ships, the hoists are also used in ammunition loading simulators at Navy training facilities in Virginia. The simulators allow trainees to practice loading and elevating a single shell using the equipment they would use onboard a ship. “These simulations were very limited ”, according to McNally ’s Project Manager. “They did not simulate the consecutive loading of multiple shells into the ammunition hoist. ” To improve training, the Navy decided they needed a training simulator that would more accurately reflect the real-world situation. McNally developed the basic concept for the simulator which consists of a receiver (which stores up to eight shells) mounted above the hoist. “We needed additional resources on this program to provide detail design of the receiver, the electrical controls and the interface between the hoist and the receiver, ” said McNally's Project Manager. RFA started the project by defining all of the machine requirements and identifying major purchased components, in addition to the control sequencing and interface between the hoist and the receiver. On any project, it is important to integrate the mechanical and the electronic control components from the beginning of the design process. RFA partnered with ICE (Instrumentation and Controls Electronics, Inc) for the electrical controls design. RFA and ICE worked closely to incorporate ideas that kept the design as simple as possible, minimizing the cost and increasing reliability. "...We create a working relationship throughout the entire project."

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