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The MathWorks today announced that through the use of its tools, Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. is successfully flight testing the fly-by-wire flight control system of the Bell-Agusta 609 (BA609) civil tiltrotor.  As the world's first full-scale tiltrotor for commercial application, the BA609 requires software developed to meet stringent DO-178B level A standards.  Using Model-Based Design and MathWorks software including MATLAB®, Simulink ®, Real-Time Workshop®, Stateflow®, the Control System Toolbox, and the Signal Processing Toolbox , Bell Helicopter is maximizing system development efficiency and minimizing development costs associated with the project.

Because Bell Helicopter is developing the BA609 for commercial use, their engineers were faced with a number of cost constraints that mandated efficient system development.  The engineering team adopted Model-Based Design, using simulation and software design and verification tools from The MathWorks for use in end-to-end flight control system development. As a result, the team significantly streamlined its development process.  For example, design and control structure changes that once took days could be completed in hours by using Simulink.

"Having used MathWorks tools for more than 15 years, we find them to be invaluable for time- and cost-sensitive projects," said Bob Fortenbaugh, Bell Helicopter Flight Control Laws Technical Resource Specialist.  "In the case of the BA609 program, using MathWorks tools for software design, testing, and flight simulation allowed us to save thousands of staff hours by verifying that the flight control system does exactly what we expect it to do."

To develop the BA609 flight control system, Bell Helicopter teamed up with a number of technology partners.  As one of their key partners also used MathWorks tools, engineers from both organizations were able to use a standard set of tools.  With shared capabilities that could be transferred back and forth across teams, engineers were able to complete projects faster and under budget. 

"Bell Helicopter's development process typifies the way Model-Based Design supports rapid development of advanced control systems technology," said Paul Barnard, director of marketing for control design, The MathWorks.  "We are quite proud to have played a role in the efficient development of the world's first commercial tiltrotor."

Bell Helicopter will deliver a presentation on this application at the MathWorks Aerospace & Defense Conference 2006. For conference details please visit www.mathworks.com/madc .