Hand-held devices for avionics system maintenance

Maintenance of aerospace equipment, including aircraft, requires highly trained personnel and expensive test equipment. The job has become increasingly complex over the years as more sophisticated electronic equipment has been added to perform the functions of sensing, communication and control. This paper explores the need and requirements for hand-held devices in the field of avionics system maintenance. A number of research programs are described that have as an objective the development of hand-held or clothing-mounted electronic devices for assisting the user while performing various tasks. A new, highly integrated microcontroller is used to illustrate the design of a cost effective, hand-held maintenance device for avionics system maintenance.