The 7 Wonders of Aveo Engineering Lights
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The 7 Wonders of Aveo Engineering Lights
Our mantra is and always will be unparalleled levels of safety, and we have poured all
our resources and technological prowess into designing and producing products with
nonpareil safety features that you simply cannot find elsewhere. Much of what exists
in the current FAA/EASA TSO light requirements, and the corresponding RTCA and
SAE standards, was written long ago by people who could not predict the current
state of technology, and who depended upon historical notions of how lights were
built for many of the past decades. As a result, these standards do not reflect a
level of safety that we find currently acceptable as pilots, plane owners nor as
demanding engineers. Therefore, Aveo products are designed to completely eclipse
every single pre-existing standard by a wide margin, and this has been verified by
exhaustive and independent testing not only by EASA aviation testing laboratories
but also by many of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the defense and civil
aviation world. I want to emphasize that only AVEO does all of its testing
and verifications at completely independent aviation certified
laboratories, we do not test in-house or use paid DERs on staff like our
competitors to approve our internal work. Every aspect of our product line
is designed and verified at each step by industry experts and then tested at aviation
approved laboratories, and every product is tested to the now current DO-160G
environmental performance standards. We were the first manufacturer to test our
products to DO-160F revision level as well.
At the end of the day, cream always rises to the top, and we prefer to let our
products and technology speak for themselves. So, I want to take a few moments
and talk about just a few of the less obvious features that separate us from the
competition:
1. Hermetically Sealed Lights:
Aveo believes that water and electricity should never have a chance to mix, and I
think many of you learned that in junior high science class. The year is now 2015,
and all around us are technological wonders and new products breaking existing
design, performance and science barriers almost daily. Yet, in most lighting industries,
be they aerospace, marine, commercial, industrial, or architectural, you see that lights
still feature the same basic designs of 50 years ago - i.e. breakable lenses with
marginal gasket seals that simply cannot prevent water or humidity or condensation
from collecting inside the light. I am sure you have seen this in your own house,
factory or even your headlights of your car.
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com
Here you can see a brand new set of lights from one of our “Brand X” competitors
on a brand new airplane, I think you can understand our point.
Besides the obvious danger to electrical components moisture presents,
it also completely destroys the precise optics output of those lights,
and in the case of aircraft lights they render them completely illegal
for flight. Water droplets cause a huge defraction, you know that from
seeing rainbows all your life, and the sector intensities and coverages
of the TSO standards are violated dramatically by this dispersion in the
critical horizontal zone of highest intensity, the place where you need
it the most to avoid collision!!!
Unfortunately, many civil aviation governing entities have turned a blind eye to this.
Aveo however is now petitioning the ICAO, EASA and FAA bodies to recognize that
this is inexcusable in this day and age to permit such a dangerous situation when
there is simply no other reason than laziness and greediness of legacy manufacturers
to not invest in making the safest lights possible. This is far from a moon launch
effort, it is basic material selection and design effort that could be done in your
garage.
By hermetically sealing our lights in our exclusive vacuum encapsulation method,
Aveo has produced a light product that is COMPLETELY INERT to the
problems of VIBRATION, SALT FOG, HUMIDITY, WATER, and even the extreme
TEMPERATURE shock DO-160 tests. You also learned in junior high science that
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com
combustion cannot be supported in a vacuum, so there is no light in the
industry with the safety against fire like Aveo lights. Vibration on conventional design
lights, especially on helicopters, results in the opening of pathways for moisture to
enter the lights, not to mention loosening of internal components. Aveo’s technology
results in a solidstate product where there is no chance for moisture entry or
component movement.
This Aveo electronics encapsulation feature also results in a product that is nearly
indestructible, with our lights having survived aircraft water crash impacts
measured at over 12 Gs only to be recovered from the sea and re-used on other
airframes! Why would you accept lights on your aircraft that can fill with moisture
or can be broken by the slightest impact or even worse, whose components can be
literally shaken off their mounts?
2. INDUSTRY-LEADING ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY FEATURES
Aveo has put an amazing amount of technology into its absolutely stunning
electronic circuit boards....
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com
Of course many of these technological secrets cannot be addressed here publicly as
we do not wish to further educate our competition already beyond what they will
learn in this letter alone! So here are just a couple of points.
In-Rush Current Limitation
Inrush current refers to the maximum, instantaneous input current drawn by an
electrical device when first turned on. For example, certain lights have a high inrush
currents as their power converters do not use inbound limiters and the resultant
inrush currents are then much higher than their steady state currents, due to the
charging current of the input capacitance. The selection of overcurrent protection
devices such as fuses and circuit breakers is made more complicated when high
inrush currents must be tolerated. The overcurrent protection must react quickly to
overload or short circuit but must not interrupt the circuit when the inrush current
flows. This neglect however has negative impact for power generators and
regulators. Inrush current on LED lights is then reduced best by inrush current
limiters which are commonly used in switching power supplies to prevent damage
caused by this same inrush current. Aveo has unique in-rush protection in all its
circuits, ensuring robust performance in all conditions.
Ceramic Capacitors vs Electrolytic Capacitors
Aveo uses advanced ceramic capacitors, thought they are far more expensive
than electrolytic capacitors frequently used by our competitors. Using ceramic
capacitors results in predictable linear and low capacitance change with operating
temperature and this gives excellent high frequency characteristics with low losses.
It is also beneficial for temperature compensating in resonant circuit application.
Electrolytic capacitors
These capacitors used by our competitors feature relatively high ESR and ESL values
which limits them for high ripple current and high frequency applications. Careful
lifetime calculation is also required because of their drying out phenomenon. These
capacitors may also vent or burst when overloaded, overheated or connected with
wrong polarization. The water based electrolyte may vent open after reaching its
end-of-life-point, showing “capacitor plague” which frequently dominates the last
decade of their usage. It may even explode quite violently when voltage rating, ripple
current rating, or slew rates are exceeded, or when subjected to reverse voltage.
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com
BRAND X CAPACITOR USEAGE AVEO CERAMIC CAPACITOR
3. 8-LAYER ALUMINUM MCPCB CIRCUIT BOARDS WITH AVEO
Multi-layer printed circuit boards have many proven benefits over even double-
sided, single-layer PCBs. They allow for considerable savings on space, allow for the
easy, simultaneous shielding of large numbers of components, and cut down on the
number of interconnection wiring harnesses that would be needed if separate circuit
boards were used. These traditional interconnections represent a considerable
addition to the space a circuit occupies and add substantially to the overall weight of
the system.
The economies of multi-layer boards are of particular value in industries such as
aviation, where space and weight are major considerations when
designing and constructing aircraft. The internal connection characteristics of
multi-layer boards also allows for the outside surfaces of the completed board to be
used to mount superior heat sinks which allow cooler operation.
The use of multi-layer boards also holds several benefits for applications where high
levels of uniformity in conductor wave impedance are required. In addition, multi-
layer boards offer superior reductions in distortion and signal propagation
in applications where signal integrity and "cross talk" levels are
critical. High levels of overall uniformity of these characteristics can also be
maintained across all boards in the laminate through the use of multi-layer
construction. Although multi-layer boards are comparatively expensive to produce
their benefits are extensive and they have both revolutionized the electronics
industry as a whole and also defined the future of printed circuit board technology.
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com
Multilayer technology essentially introduces a vertical solution approach to the
problem of the conflicting requests for extremely high number of interconnections
and reduced sizes in a single printed circuit board.
The interconnections among the active and passive components that are (typically)
mounted on the top and bottom of the printed circuit board are realized in some
internal layers that are pressed together and that can be then connected the one to
the others (through blind and buried vias) and to the superficial (external) layers of
the board (drilling through all vias). Basically, each internal layer of a multilayer
printed circuit board is essentially a double-sided PCB, but with no solder and
finishes.
The more internal layers, the more difficult it becomes in the manufacturing of the
printed circuit board. But, on the other side, the higher the interconnection density
available means the better the performance. Aveo has been the leader in this
capability and technology and is the only one in the industry with this feature.
Without the multilayer technology, no miniaturization of the printed circuit boards
would have been possible when combined with the increasing number and
complexity of the active and passive components mounted on them. In applications
like mobile phones, for example, where the size of each element of the device
(boards, antennas, chips, etc) has become more and more critical, only the
introduction of the multilayer technology in the printed circuit boards manufacturing
allowed the producers to match the market requests.
Characteristics of Simple Single/Double Layer PCBs Common in Legacy
Lights
• Cheap
• Only for simple applications
• For low frequency designs only
• High EMI
• SMD components assembled only on one side
• Not recommended for advanced and Low EMI design
•
Multi-Layer Characteristics such as Aveo 8-layer PCBs
• For advanced circuits and high frequency applications
• Low EMI
• Hight components and traces density
• SMD components can be assembled on both sides
• High current capability
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com
• Large solid GND planes = low EMI
• Low inductance
• Separate signal and power layers
• Small currents loops
• Better circuit layout
• Better thermal resistance
• Better grounding
PROPRIETARY THICK FILM INSULATED SUBSTRATE
Aveo’s proprietary MCPCB technology is able to take the same fit and form as
traditional MCPCBs, but Aveo’s Proprietary Aluminum Substrate delivers increased
thermal connectivity and high dielectric breakdown strength.
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com
Temperature Measurement Result: Iled = 700mA
%Δ
MATERIAL Tmin(°C) Tmax(°C) Ave.(°C) %Δ
(IAMS) vs MCPCB
Aveo IAMS 43.6 48.4 45.6
-6.5 -14.3%
MCPCB 49.1 52.3 52.1
Temperature Resistance
%Δ
MATERIAL Tmin(°C) Tmax(°C) Ave.(°C) %Δ
(IAMS) vs MCPCB
Aveo IAMS 43.6 48.4 45.6 -6.5 -14.3%
MCPCB 49.1 52.3 52.1
DRAMATICALLY LOWER EMI
Multi-layer boards using ground and/or power planes also provide
significant reduction in radiated emission over two layer PCBs.
A rule of thumb that is often used, is that a four-layer board will produce 15 dB less
radiation than a two-layer board, all other factors being equal.
An eight-layer board can be used to add two more routing layers or
to improve EMC performance by adding two more planes. The
majority of eight layer board stack-ups are used to improve EMC performance
rather than add additional routing layers. The percentage increase in cost of an
eight-layer board over a six-layer board is less than the percentage increase in going
from four to six layers, hence making it easier to justify the cost increase for
improved EMC performance. An eight-layer board provides us, for the first time, the
opportunity to easily satisfy all originally stated objectives. An eight layers is usually
used to improve the EMC performance of the board, not to increase the number of
routing layers. Therefore, an eight-layer board can be thought of as a six-layer board
with optimum EMC performance. There is very little EMC advantage to use a board
with more than eight layers.
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com
4. MicroController NTC Progressive Thermal Management Safety
Feature Option
A key part of a thermal management is to accurately measure the
actual light internal operating temperature. The temperature on the light
can be accurately measured using the temperature sender located inside a micro
controller. The sender provides a method of measuring the temperature to ensure
that the controller and the light is within its tested specified operating temperature
range. Output power is then regulated so that when certain temperatures are
reached a decrease is ordered in light power to eliminate overheating. This inner
thermal management works together with a passive NTC sender placed separately
on the PCB to equalize balance between power and heat which is then maximizing
the efficacy of the lights and providing a very secure safety protection against any
possible overheating and it DRAMATICALLY extends lifetime of the LEDs
and the electronic components.
AveoEngineering developed an optional NTC Progressive Thermal
Management safety feature at the request of defense industry
operators and manufacturers of aircraft. One of these requests came
from a direct problem of wing fires and catastrophic airframe loss with
the U.S. Air Force on airframes using one of our competitor’s lights.
The request was to provide automatic electronic circuitry to reduce the power
delivery in the lights (therefore the emitted intensity) as temperature reaches critical
levels, which it may do in extremely hot environments such as frequently
encountered in desert operations. With no cooling airflow, in ambient temperatures
of 50ºC, leaving strobes running on the ground is not advisable. Of course, strobes
should not be used on the ground except on aircraft roll. But if someone forgets and
leaves them on, obviously some bad things can happen without adequate safety
protections, as the U.S. Air Force found out. (Funny thing, with no incident reports filed,
in the rest of the world we call that a cover-up? Yet this certain competitor wishes to
apostolize about aviation safety!!!)
Many complex aircraft manufacturers have packed very sensitive electronic
equipment into their wingtips or have used advanced materials, and heat-sensitivity is
critical to them. They have all asked for this optional circuit protection to keep the
lights extremely cool if accidentally left on while on the ground. But more
importantly, the feature provides a dramatic life extension of the LEDs
and other electronic components in the circuit boards which increases
operational safety, lowers risk of LED failure and provides exceptional
customer value.
The graphs below depict the effect of extremely high temperatures when an NTC
thermistor heat management actuation occurs, lowering the power levels per the
table also shown. Unfortunately, some of our competitors do not realize
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com
or understand this feature, but then again, if you are making lights
that fill with water or start fires, then these kinds of safety features
are beyond their comprehension.
So, how does it work?
Aveo incorporates into its Ultra and other aircraft lights an optional circuit at the
request of the aircraft customer. It features an NTC thermistor technology, that
reduces power as temperature elevates. Of course, when in flight, there is no
possibility to achieve these high temperatures or even on the ground in almost every
conceivable ambient condition. This is how it works technically:
Each Aveo aircraft light features a Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) circuit
that limits internal temperatures by attenuating operating current (with a
corresponding reduction of brightness) when internal temperatures reach a certain
threshold. This proprietary circuitry serves to protect the light itself, and associated
aircraft wiring, against a thermal runaway condition. It's recommended that the
operation of strobes without airflow be limited to avoid heat build up and this NTC
circuitry feature is designed to more than triple the life of the LEDs and electronic
components thereby providing an even great margin of safety for continued
airworthiness due to the dramatic enhancement of electronics reliability.
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.comAveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.comAs can be seen here, it is an adder to the circuitry
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.comwhich performs the functions per this table...
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com5. The Lowest Drag and Smallest Form Factors in the Industry
Only Aveo provides Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) drag analysis of its lights.
There are no lights in the industry as low drag as those from Aveo, and this analysis
proves it along with a “police lineup view”.
This is possible because of all the reasons you have read about (and a few we still
keep secret) that permit Aveo to pack more of everything into less space, from 8-
layer boards to thermal technology to high-precision reflectors, etc. These all add up
to a smaller, and far lighter product with superior performance.
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com6. Highest Brightness in the Industry
Competitors can play stupid games like measuring specific lights built for defense
customers with power-reduction safety circuits (as explained above they are to prevent
ground heat build-up) activated in a hot box environment because they are ignorant of
these kinds of safety features or capabilities, (which the FAA finds to be an outstanding
feature by the way) and then trying to claim their lights are brighter. Their lights are
designed for minimums, and nothing more. In EVERY SINGLE test aircraft
actual field independent evaluation of Aveo lights vs. ALL Competitors
at many of the major aircraft manufacturers facilities in the industry
the Aveo lights were selected overwhelmingly as the brightest and
smallest and safest.
We use the absolute latest LEDs in our products, we do not let these lights grow stale with
old led technology like our competitors who are still selling lights with LEDs from 2006 in
them, which is prehistoric in an industry that is changing multiple times per year by
quantum leaps.
Because we have superior thermal management materials, designs, components and
features and the 8-layer circuit boards, etc., our LEDs run significantly cooler than
our competition which permits us to drive them at higher power and therefore far
higher intensities. This is also why we provide the optional NTC thermal
management circuitry to keep the lights cool if you forget and leave the strobes
running on the ground in a hot ambient condition.
Aveo lights properly cover the sectors required by SAE Standards. Our
friends at Brand X who do their in-house certification, do not seem to
understand the required arcs of coverage. Here is an example of the
position light intensity on their light, and do not worry, it is not with
their famous water condensation in it even!!! Note the rear position
light has almost 20 degrees of no coverage in the required 70-degree
arc!!!
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.comAveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
www.aveoengineering.com7. Unmatched Cold-Start Capability
One of the most famous defense aircraft manufacturers in the industry did
comprehensive testing of all aircraft lights for selection of the replacement of legacy
lights on their existing and new aircraft. Besides the comprehensive EMI
testing which ONLY AVEO PASSED, they also did cold-soaking at minus 75
celsius and minus 89 celsius, since they turn off the lights at altitude during defense
operations for many hours, and require the lights to start up after that “cold
soaking”. Not only were Aveo lights the ONLY ONES to start-up
immediately without any problem, but further, the competitive
lights not only did not startup, but in fact their lights burned out
from the experience.
8. LIFETIME WARRANTY
We still are amazed that our industry brethren have not offered a lifetime warranty
on their products. The best LEDs in the world have expected lifetimes of up to
100,000 hours. How many of you make or fly airplanes that achieve those hour
levels in their lifetime? So why do they give you a warranty that is so short and so
limited? Ah, the answer lies in the quality of the components and technology used
INSIDE. (Remember “It’s in there!”) If you use short-life electrolytic capacitors that
can dry out instead of the highly advanced ceramic capacitors, you have an example.
If you do not invest in a design and build that minimizes thermal consequences, you
have another example. If you use cheap PCBs (yes those single and double layer
boards used by our competitors are only about $1 each) then I guess you have to
severely limit your warranty.
When you buy Aveo lights, you are spending your last money on lights for the life of
your aircraft. Enough said.
Sincerely yours,
Christ
ian Nielsen
Christian Nielsen
CEO & Owner
AveoEngineering Group
Aveo Engineering Group
Palm Coast, Florida, USA • Pribram, Czech Republic • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia •
Birmingham, UK • Gelnica, Slovakia • Kosice, Slovakia • Mumbai, India
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