The turret drive and stabilization systems (TDSS) used on tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, military boats, and remote weapon stations must deliver steady and precise turret control to ensure the safety of warfighters and the accuracy of weapons systems. Designing a robust, reliable, and high-performance TDSS from the ground up is a difficult challenge that requires particular engineering expertise. The system designer must have familiarity with the key TDSS components, which include rotary gear and linear drives, gyroscopes, motor controllers, and hand controllers, and know how they interoperate. What’s more, ensuring that a new TDSS is correctly designed and can successfully undergo adequate field testing can add significant time, cost, and risks to programs.
A TDSS must balance high performance with stringent size, weight, and power and cost (SWaP-C) requirements. Systems need to be rugged and reliable while dealing with cost restraints, a path which can be especially difficult to navigate. The designer needs to have a precise understanding of which trade-offs can be made to ensure the system meets the required performance requirements within the given SWaP-C limitations. Typically, this knowledge is gained through years of experience and familiarity with the performance properties and complex technical relationships of the weapons system’s electrical components and physical materials.
A better approach for developing a TDSS, one that can significantly reduce time and cost, while lowering the needed level of engineering expertise required is to use prequalified TDSS system based on proven modular components. An integrated, modular TDSS will accelerate time to market and reduce program risks and costs.
Download the white paper to learn more about:
- Electromechanical drive systems
- Turret aiming and stabilization
- Turret drive servo systems
