Project Description

Pilots rely on an airplane radio for communication, so if it breaks, they can no longer communicate with air traffic control (ATC) or other aircraft. This causes many problems since ATC is no longer able to communicate with the aircraft to coordinate airspace deconfliction. It also means that the airplane pilots cannot communicate any ongoing problems to ATC.

To solve the myriad complications that can result from a radio malfunction, this project aims to create a backup radio for use as an alternate communication device in the event that an airplane’s main radio fails. Designing a backup radio in its entirety is outside the scope of a two semester design class, so this project’s goal is to design and implement a prototype capable of basic amplitude modulation (AM) signal transmission and reception as well as sending status updates and receiving commands via ethernet. This prototype will then be used by future engineering teams as the foundation for a full design capable of passing civil certification.

High-level Design