Posted by Courtney E. Howard

SOUTHAMPTON, Pa., 7 Dec. 2011. Environmental Technology Corp. (ETC) officials have begun static testing of the company’s ATFS 400 Model 31 high-performance human centrifuge, designed and manufactured by ETC's Aircrew Training Systems (ATS) business unit. The unit is will be delivered to the U.S. Air Force next year, where it will be used to conduct high-G training for operational and aeromedical aircrew, research, and equipment qualification. The ATFS-400 Model 31 integrates high-fidelity virtual tactical simulation, provides a flyable human training and research centrifuge, can generate up to 20 Gs with a 15 G-per-second onset, and comes with three separate cockpit modules and wide field of view visuals.

Testing is taking place at the Static and Dynamic Test Facility located at ETC's manufacturing plant in Southampton, Pa., which supports state-of-the-art static and dynamic testing on complex, high-performance structures. This capability enables ETC engineers to create high-bandwidth motion platforms while minimizing system weight.

Static testing helps to assure safety and performance of the device. Critical parts of the ATFS-400-31 to be tested at ETC's Static and Dynamic Test Facility include the pedestal, bearing, drive shaft, arm, roll frame, gondola and cockpit modules, control algorithms, and software. During the testing, ETC will be simulating the stresses that the device will undergo in various operational environments.