Ukrainian technology and circuit board design.
With our previous posts about our reflection on Ukrainian technology, its evolution and impact on PCB and circuit board design, I recently read information about the development of the helicopter. The world’s first production helicopter was a Sikorsky’s R-4B Hoverfly. It was developed from Igor Sikorsky’s famous VS-300 experimental helicopter, and Mr Sikorsky was born in Kiev in Ukraine, Ukraine in 1889 and died in the United States in 1972.
Because of his mother’s great interest in art and the work of Leonardo da Vinci, when he was 12 years old, he made a rubber-powered helicopter that rose in the air – he was hooked on the concept of man flying! After a brief period of engineering study in Paris, Sikorsky went to Kiev Polytechnic Institute.
He had a trip through Europe in the summer of 1908, where he came into contact with the Wright Brothers and a group of European inventors trying to match their progress. As Sikorsky returned to Kiev, he concluded that horizontal rotors were the best way to fly, as Leonardo had suggested. Following a series of many failures he had to wait 30 years before all conditions were right to create the first repeatable production helicopter.
Circuit board design in Avionics
What has intrigued us at TBS is, it could be said he was also the catalyst for circuit boards in Aircraft electronic systems, now called avionics. There are hundreds of electronic systems fitted to aircraft that perform smart functions such as communications, navigation, display and management of multiple systems.
The specialty in PCB board design exploded with special attention to the environment of where PCB boards were used. Knowledge of thermal management, high-frequency RF interference, layout techniques and miniaturisation all had to be with the expertise of the PCB designer.
Designers of circuit boards for electronics used in helicopters have to use that knowledge to calculate such matters as impedance, to help keep a shield on electronic signals so that they work. Electronics, used in the air, could be said to have started with the first experimental radio transmission from an airplane, conducted by the US Navy in August 1910.
New demands influencing circuit board design
So, it is true to say that electronics and PCB board design for avionics have really helped push the boundaries of the industry. An aircraft’s cockpit houses avionic equipment, such as control, monitoring, communication, navigation, weather, and anti-collision systems, all of which have to work harmoniously together in such harsh situations. This field of electronic design has been further accelerated with AI, for features such as Autopilot extension, predictive Fuel System management, and Collision-avoidance systems.
Again, another development of Ukrainian technology that has to be acknowledge for its impact on evolution of circuit board design.
