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Experience
North Star designs printed wiring boards (PWBs) for all kinds of applications, beginning with simple two-layer boards, all the way up to very high-speed, mixed digital/analog circuits on ten-layer boards. We use OrCad design tools for schematic capture. We can help you design your PWB, select key components, do component-placement layouts, produce Gerber files for PWB fabrication, and fabricate and assemble even the most sophisticated circuit card assemblies (CCAs). We have the development and test equipment to accomplish the task. Recent hardware we have designed can be found in video editing equipment, airborne electronic controllers, weapon systems, and desktop PCs. back to top
Programmable Gate Array Logic Design If your design needs to
be small and low-cost, you are likely to use a field programmable gate array
(FPGA). We design FPGA logic for small, medium, and very large FPGA
devices. We use Altera's Quartus II development system for logic design
using schematic capture, block diagrams, and
We have coding experience in assembly language programming, C language, and C++ object oriented language. We have developed embedded applications code, everything from booting the processor to interfacing and controlling peripheral devices, serial ports, video overlays, to running sophisticated real-time signal processing algorithms. Algorithms we've developed include graphics overlay, serial communications for wired and wireless links, video motion detection, video tracking, and PID controllers for motor servos and valve controllers. High level programming includes typical Windows applications. Our engineers adhere to documented Software Development and Coding Standards. We can produce software documentation of requirements, problems, and tests, and control versions and software releases, if required for your product. back to top more about software development
North Star's embedded
software code is presently running on the TMS320F2812 digital signal processor,
the Intel x86 family (PCs), the Motorola PowerPC, the Rabbit RCM2000 microcontroller,
and the Intel 8051 microcontroller. North Star has the experience and all
the tools required to develop code for these and many other similar devices.
We use Metrowerks' CodeWarrior, Texas Instruments' Code Composer Studio, and
Borland's C/C++ development tools for coding, compiling, and debugging.
Embedded code is normally real-time and application-specific. We make
extensive re-use of existing routines and algorithms to save development costs
on a new design. We have a long history of successful embedded
applications projects for aerospace, defense, industrial, and commercial
customers.
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Our engineers have been
involved in aerospace and defense programs for over 30 years. We have
designed electronics, software, and firmware for missiles, ground vehicles,
aircraft, and test systems. Our experience includes TV and IR video,
inertial stabilization (gyros and mirrors), video tracking, gimbal design,
analog and digital servo controls, serial communications links, fiber-optic
video/communications links, laser rangefinders, IR lenses, TV lenses, zoom
lenses, cable design and fabrication, production test stations, marinization
(materials and component selection for marine environment), ballistic
algorithms, gun mounts, digital data recorders, and programmable flow
controllers. We have experience in all phases of weapon development,
concept design, trade-studies, prototype hardware development,
transition-to-production, production, and live-fire tests (missiles and guns).
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North Star's engineers
have developed controls (hardware and software) for video tape recorders, video
editing equipment, ultrasonic tools, TV cameras, wired and wireless (RF 900MHz
and 2.5GHz) datalinks, and solid-state, high-speed serial data recorders.
Our experience includes
system engineering from concept to completion of systems based on modern digital
computer-controlled mechanisms and servo valves, video,
If your product has TV
or IR cameras, we can help you select the right one. North Star has worked
with TV cameras and lenses, IR cameras, non-uniformity correction algorithms, IR
lenses, zoom mechanisms, glass and IR-transparent windows, collimating
Our engineers have been involved in the transition-to-production of .50-cal and 40mm weapons for the U.S. Navy, commercial video recording and digital editing equipment, welding-industry machine tools, air-tanker constant-flow controller for firefighting applications, missiles for the U.S. Army, airborne gimbals, video trackers, IR cameras, lasers, commercial RF communications equipment, and a fiber-optic datalink. We know what's required to take a prototype into production, develop production test equipment, route sheets, test procedures, and buy, inspect and control parts, perform in-process inspections, perform quality assurance documentation, and deliver a high-quality product. back to top
We have designed enclosures for many different types of electronics, cameras, and motor drives, including conductively cooled circuit cards, air-cooled card stacks, optical benches, zoom motor drives, RF transceivers, military environment equipment enclosures, and more. We can design a simple all-plastic enclosure, or more complicated boxes or panels with switches and LEDs, environmental seals, RF antenna interfaces, watertight boxes, shock/vibration/crash-proof enclosures, etc. North Star uses AutoCad and OrCad design tools together for complete electronic enclosure design. For motor housings, optical bench designs, gimbals, and gun mounts, North Star can design it and build it to your specifications. We have the tools to assemble opto-mechanical and electro-mechanical assemblies due to our experience with gun mounts, sensor packages, connector feed-throughs, gyros, motors, bearings, seals, and gimbals. back to top
Redesign/Reengineer for Parts Obsolescence We have helped several customers redesign, upgrade, or replace existing products with equivalent products using newer technology electronic hardware and software. Some call it 'Reverse Engineering'. An example is the Timing and Control Board for the Esonix Ultrasonic Impact Generator. More recently we designed a programmable flow controller to be a form-fit-function replacement for an older part, while adding many new features such as user-programmability while the unit is installed. back to top
North Star designs its products to meet your requirements, and if that includes harsh environment, then that's what we design it to. We also handle all phases of environmental qualification testing, test planning, test conduct, and test reporting. back to top
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Verilog hardware description
language (VHDL). Our team can simulate the design using these tools, load
a current build to a target device, and analyze the design in the target FPGA
using Altera's Signal Tap in-circuit analysis tool. A recent design we
completed uses the very high-performance Altera Stratix FPGA.
A recent example is a wireless audio transceiver system; North Star assisted the
customer with software development of a secure, frequency-hopping communication
link. This system transmits and receives five audio channels simultaneously. The system is based on a state-of-the-art
digital signal processor which handles audio digitizing (input), mixing,
compression/decompression, and audio playback (output).
weapons, simulation
tools, analysis tools, and complex communications links. We can help you
select key components in your system, conduct tests and analyses leading to
trade-studies for optimization. If it involves servos, switches, LEDs,
cameras, lasers, motors, optics, hydraulics, serial data, or video data, we can
engineer your system. Our engineers understand the need for good
documentation at all phases of a program, and can deliver quality documentation,
hardware, software, simulations or analysis tools that are just right. Our
customers benefit from our experience up-front, during initial planning phases
of their design program. We can help you, too.
mirrors
for alignment of multiple sensors on a single optical bench, and boresight
alignment mechanisms and schemes. We are experienced with video data
processing, recording, tracking, graphics overlay, and display technologies
(RS-170, NTSC, VGA, head-up displays, flat panel LCDs). We have designed
electronics to capture and digitize analog video streams and store the data in
solid-state memory for processing by a computer or FPGA. A recent example
is a video digitizer for the front-end of an autotracker.
