July 1, 2014. Ridgetop Group Inc. announced the introduction of the CPT 1000, a diagnostic tool for isolating faults in avionics clusters for military and commercial aircraft. Ridgetop licensed the core technology from the U. S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) at Lakehurst, NJ, in 2013.
Originally designed to meet the diagnostic needs of the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 combat jet, the CPT 1000 product has been enhanced and commercialized to meet wide-ranging diagnostic applications in aircraft. Aircraft incorporate a multitude of electronic subsystems and complex interconnects that include, for example, the flight control system, radars, and advanced communications systems. As these modules age, “off-nominal” behavior of the modules can cause performance discrepancies or faults to emerge that are not easily isolated for repair. These faults lengthen mean-time-to-repair (MTTR) and impair operational readiness.
The CPT 1000 extends Ridgetop’s product line serving the needs of the aerospace community. Other product lines include advanced diagnostic and prognostic tools for developing predictive diagnostic routines, precision instrumentation, and intermittency detection tools. According to Robert Wagoner, Ridgetop’s vice president of product development, “We are very encouraged by the level of interest in this tool from both commercial and military sustainment groups. Through its modular design, we plan on extending this product line through further development for other aircraft.”