A brief history of my Stick Shaker
In about 2004, Dynon introduced its D10/D10A products. One of the features was the serial data link that presented digital air data, including airspeed and angle-of-attack.
In 2006, I developed a device that sniffed this data stream, called the V-Speed ADS. It presented either AoA or V-speed information using a sequential color-coded LED display. It mounted on the glare-shield in a horizontal or vertical position to provide a line-of-sight display for this critical information.
V-Speed ADS (circa 2006)
In 2011, I wrote the 'FIX' protocol (Flight Information eXchange) that brokered both Dynon and Garmin to use the same or similar serial data streams in the SkyView and G3X EFIS systems. These data streams provided air data, engine data and system data to external devices. This FIX protocol was largely adopted by the respective vendors.
At about the same time, I decided to provide my full catalog of avionics designs as 'open source' hardware. The concept here was that I was never going to get rich manufacturing and selling these devices into a relatively small market, but I want the intellectual property to live on.
MakerPlane then stepped in as a partner in the open source movement and began offering my products kitsets and finished devices to those folks unwilling or unable to build their own from the ground up. I then focused on development of new products that I could then 'give away' as open source designs to the community.
So the stick shaker represents the latest in line of these open-source designs and the culmination of my 8 years of AoA indicating device development . This year so far, I have released a 2-axis electronic trim controller with speed scheduling and automatic fault correction; a magneto tach pulse stabilizer for EFIS systems and the stick shaker is next.
M-PWR-2 Trim Controller (2014)
I have been in active development of this stick shaker for over a year off and on. It's now working and flight tested and the production pcbs are in-house today. You will notice that my designs are primarily through-hole which makes them very easy for the average electronic hobbyist to assemble. This is a continuing theme, but it probably won't last forever as surface mount takes over.
I am about to take a BOD position in an aerospace electronics company so my design productivity is likely to suffer as I worry about bigger issues.
Finally, I challenge all of the other folks at VAF who do similar types of electronic (or mechanical) designs to join the open source movement and give away as much knowledge as possible to advance our avocation.
Cheers,