VALEMA

The purpose of the GMV-led VALEMA project was to manufacture Electronic Control Units (ECUs) within the framework of EMA4FLIGHT, and to perform certification activities for those units.

This project, which ended in 2022, was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, through grant agreement no. 755615.

The VALEMA project had a double objective:

• Firstly, to manufacture and assemble units (EMAs and ECUs) that had been previously designed and developed within the framework of the EMA4FLIGHT project (development of electromechanical actuators and electronic control units for flight control systems), to allow in‑flight testing.
• Secondly, to perform hardware and software certification activities for the ECUs, to obtain a permit to fly in the FTB2 demonstrator for regional aircraft.

Interproject coordination

The manufacturing part included an in-depth analysis of manufacturing processes and materials, qualification testing, and research on new processes that could minimize manufacturing time, reduce the amounts of raw materials used, and decrease environmental impacts.

The certification activities were focused on obtaining the flight permit from the competent airworthiness authorities, for the hardware design of the ECUs for ailerons and spoilers (in compliance with DO‑254), and for the software design of the ECUs for ailerons and spoilers (in compliance with DO‑178C).

These activities could be seen as the final hardware and software design step for the development of ECUs for ailerons and spoilers that took place during the EMA4FLIGHT project, which meant that they were also able to benefit from the innovation work that took place as part of that project.