Related Manuals for Smart Avionics PB-4
Summary of Contents for Smart Avionics PB-4
- Page 1 PB-4 Propeller & Rotor Balancer User Interface Manual Smart Avionics Ltd. Revision: 2.4 www.smartavionics.com 17/07/2019...
- Page 2 PB-4 Propeller & Rotor Balancer: User Interface Manual Revision: 2.4 Publication date 17/07/2019 Copyright © 2003-2019 Smart Avionics Ltd. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. iOS is a trademark of Apple Inc. Dropbox is a trademark of Dropbox inc.
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Page 3: Table Of Contents
Table of Contents 1. Introduction ....................1 1.1. Accessing the PB-4 user interface ............ 1 1.1.1. Accessing the PB-4 user interface (AP mode) ...... 1 1.1.2. Accessing the PB-4 user interface (STA mode) ....1 1.2. Initial screen ..................2 1.3. - Page 4 PB-4 Propeller & Rotor Balancer 6.4. Delete jobs ..................38 6.5. Save / restore PB-4 data ..............38 6.6. PB-4 configuration ................39 6.6.1. Set access point details ............39 6.6.2. PB-4 hardware configuration ..........39 6.6.3. Get / set configuration values ..........40 6.6.4.
- Page 5 4.1. Spectrum tab (with options visible) ............29 4.2. Rotor spectrum with line info box ............30 5.1. Data tab (with options visible) ..............35 6.1. Options page (when connected to PB-4) ..........37 6.2. Accelerometer orientation during calibration ........40 7.1. Sine wave ....................44 8.1.
- Page 6 www.smartavionics.com...
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Page 7: Introduction
Chapter 1. Introduction This manual describes the PB-4's browser based user interface and how to use it to balance a propeller or rotor. Please refer to the PB-4 Hardware Manual (pb4_hw_manual.pdf) for information regarding the PB-4 hardware and how it is installed prior to carrying out a balancing job. -
Page 8: Initial Screen
2. Turn the PB-4 off (press switch until the LEDs go out). 3. Turn the PB-4 on again but this time start it in AP mode (press on/off only until LED 1 comes on). 4. Access the PB-4 user interface page with your browser as described in the previous section, connect to the PB-4 (click on red button) and then go to Menu / About. -
Page 9: Jobs
Fig 1.1. Initial screen The PB-4 user interface is "responsive" - the layout changes depending on the resolution and orientation of the user interface's screen. It should be usable on many different user interface devices. For in-cockpit use, a 7" form factor tablet is ideal. -
Page 10: Menu Button
• The default job is always available. If you delete it, it is recreated. • All of the job data is stored on an SD card in the PB-4. • Jobs can be exported and imported so you can share job data with other PB-4 operators and also view the job using the PB-4 online viewer. - Page 11 The battery capacity remaining is estimated from the time the PB-4 has been running since the batteries were last changed. It assumes the batteries were fully charged to their rated capacity when they were installed.
- Page 12 www.smartavionics.com...
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Page 13: Polar Tab - Propeller Balancing
Update checkbox is checked, the chart will be updated in real-time to show the current balance condition. The current point is simply the most recent point sent from the PB-4 when the display is being updated in real-time or the point that has been selected in the points list when the display is not being updated in real-time. - Page 14 Polar chart Fig 2.2. Polar chart - propeller balancing The chart shows some text in yellow boxes that describes the current point: The top-left box contains the tacho channel name (A or B) and the current point's propeller RPM. The top-right box contains the accelerometer channel name (X, Y, X2 or Y2) and the current point's IPS and DEG values.
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Page 15: Capture Button
Below the polar chart is the Capture button. Clicking on this will capture the next polar point produced by the PB-4. All axes (X, Y and also X2, Y2 if the second accelerometer is in use) are captured together irrespective of which axis is currently being displayed. -
Page 16: Option Buttons
Option buttons fields into which you enter the current weight configuration as separate numbers. The weight amounts and positions you specify will be assigned to the polar points that are subsequently captured. The weight amounts can be in conventional weight units (e.g. grams or ounces!) or simply numbers of washers. -
Page 17: Show Waveform Button
Show Waveform button 2.3.3. Show Waveform button Clicking this will open a dialog that shows the current acceleration waveform. 2.3.4. Polar Options button Clicking this will toggle the display of the polar options box, the options in the box are: •... -
Page 18: Point Details Dialog - Propeller Mode
Point details dialog becomes the Show This Point button and clicking on it will make the point visible again. • The Use As Start Point button designates the current point to be the start point . A start point is simply a point that was captured before any balance weights were attached, it represents the propeller balance starting condition. - Page 19 Point details dialog Note The weight configuration should be set before the points are captured by clicking in the WT1 or WT2 columns of the polar point list header as described in Section 2.2. If that is done, the weight configuration is copied into points as they are captured.
- Page 20 www.smartavionics.com...
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Page 21: Polar Tab - Rotor Balancing
The chart may show move lines (the red, green and blue lines in the above figure). The current point is simply the most recent point sent from the PB-4 when the display is being updated in real-time or the point that has been selected in the points list when the display is not being updated in real-time. -
Page 22: Capture Button
The bottom-right box contains the date & time the current point was measured. 3.1.1. Capture button Below the polar chart is the Capture button. Clicking on this will capture the next polar point produced by the PB-4. All axes (X, Y and also X2, Y2 if the www.smartavionics.com... -
Page 23: Points List
• The Update checkbox controls whether the polar chart is automatically updated to show the latest polar point(s) returned by the PB-4 when it is connected. If not checked, the last displayed data is preserved. So if you want to pause the display, un-check this checkbox. -
Page 24: Option Buttons
Option buttons Fig 3.4. Span Adjustment Dialog The current adjustment values are assigned to polar points when they are captured. Clicking Show Adjustment Settings expands the dialog to show you fields that characterise the adjustment. The settings are described in Changing Adjustment Settings. -
Page 25: Show Waveform Button
Show Waveform button 3.3.3. Show Waveform button Clicking this will open a dialog that shows the current acceleration waveform. 3.3.4. Polar Options button Clicking this will toggle the display of the polar options box, the options in the box are: •... -
Page 26: Rotor Mode Profiles
X axis is pointing horizontally to the right and the Y axis is pointing horizontally forward. This is the standard accelerometer orientation recommended by Smart Avionics as depicted www.smartavionics.com... -
Page 27: Point Details Dialog
Point details dialog Profile Name Description sensorOffsets tachoOffset below. The tachoOffset value is zero so it is expected that the tacho triggers when the master blade is in the datum position. Direction Of Rotation Master Blade Y Axis + Accel X Axis + Tape Fig 3.6. -
Page 28: Point Details Dialog - Rotor Mode
Point details dialog • If the point was captured with acceleration data (see the With Waveform Data option in Chapter 5), the Show/Hide Waveform button will be visible and clicking that will toggle the display of the waveform. • If adjustment values and move lines have been defined, the Calculate Balance Solution button will be visible. -
Page 29: Rotor Balance Solution Dialog
Rotor balance solution dialog 3.6. Rotor balance solution dialog This dialog shows you the changes you have to make to the state of the rotor compared to the state at the time that point was captured . Fig 3.8. Rotor balance solution dialog Important The suggested changes are relative values not absolute In words, the dialog in the above figure is saying reduce the weight... -
Page 30: Edit Move Line Dialog
Edit move line dialog Recalculate Solution button to get a new solution after you have altered the selected adjustments or move lines. The Apply Changes To Current Adjustments button does exactly that, it updates the current adjustments in the polar point list header with the calculated changes. -
Page 31: Defining Move Line Nodes
The None adjustment is provided for compatibility with jobs that were created by earlier versions of the PB-4 UI firmware that didn't support adjustments. 3.7.1. Defining move line nodes To define a move line, two nodes on the polar chart (Node 1 and Node 2) that the line passes through need to be specified. -
Page 32: Changing Adjustment Settings
The name can be anything so not only can you change it to a preferred language, you can also change it to be a completely different concept. The PB-4 simply uses the adjustment values without any knowledge of what physical changes those adjustments represent. - Page 33 Changing adjustment settings Colour The colour used in the polar point list header row and also for the move lines that are associated with this setting. Note What you will get when you click on this depends on the browser you are using. Some browsers will present a colour chooser widget when you click on this.
- Page 34 www.smartavionics.com...
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Page 35: Spectrum Tab
4.1. Spectrum display The spectrum display shows vibration level (in IPS) plotted against RPM. If the PB-4 is connected and the Update checkbox is checked, the display will be continuously updated to show the latest spectrum received from the PB-4. -
Page 36: Rotor Spectrum With Line Info Box
Spectrum display In the top right-hand corner are shown: • Date and time the spectrum was captured. • The tachometer channel used (A or B) and the rotor/propeller RPM (if known). • The accelerometer channel used (X, Y, X2 or Y2) and the vibration level the rotor/propeller RPM (if that RPM is known). -
Page 37: Capture Button
Below the spectrum display is the Capture button. Clicking on this will capture the next spectrum produced by the PB-4. All axes (X, Y and also X2, Y2 if the second accelerometer is in use) are captured together irrespective of which axis is currently being displayed. -
Page 38: Option Buttons
Option buttons reverse capture order, the most recently captured spectrum being at the top of the list. Clicking on the Time header reverses the order of the list. Clicking on a row will display the selected spectrum. Clicking that row again will display the spectrum details dialog for the selected spectrum where you can enter a note for the spectrum if you wish. - Page 39 Spectrum Options button resolution. Using 10 RPM per line would give the slowest update rate and narrowest range of frequencies displayed but the greatest resolution. Note that once a spectrum has been captured, the width is fixed. You can't capture a spectrum with one width and later display it with another width. •...
- Page 40 www.smartavionics.com...
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Page 41: Data Tab
The box will flash green to indicate that the capture was successful. It will flash red if the PB-4 is not connected or neither of the capture checkboxes are enabled. - Page 42 It also controls whether spectra will be captured when the PB-4's offline capture button is pressed. • The Enable PB-4 Offline Capture checkbox enables the PB-4's hardware capture button that can be used to initiate a capture when the user interface is not connected.
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Page 43: Options Page
Fig 6.1. Options page (when connected to PB-4) 6.1. Change to another job The section expands to show a list of jobs known to the PB-4, click on one to load it into the browser so it becomes the current job. -
Page 44: Rename The Current Job
Pressing the Select PB-4 Archive To Restore button will pop-up a file chooser that lets you select the PB-4 data archive that you wish to load onto the PB-4. Because all job names must be unique, if the archive file contains any jobs... -
Page 45: Configuration
This section expands to show several sub-sections: 6.6.1. Set access point details For the PB-4 to be able to access an access point in STA mode, it needs to know the access point's network name (SSID) and password. If the access point supports Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), these credentials can easily be obtained by following the procedure detailed in the PB-4 hardware manual. -
Page 46: Get / Set Configuration Values
Fig 6.2. Accelerometer orientation during calibration 6.6.3. Get / set configuration values Various aspects of the PB-4's behaviour can be configured via a set of configuration values. • To read the current value, enter the value's name in the Name text input box followed by the enter or accept key and the value will be fetched from the PB-4 and stored in the Value text input box. -
Page 47: Firmware Upload
The section expands to show two buttons and a checkbox: • Pressing the Select PB-4 UI Zip File To Upload pops up a file chooser that lets you select the zip file containing the new PB-4 UI files you wish to install. -
Page 48: Set Pb-4 Ip Address
IP address (network address) that will be used to connect the browser to the PB-4 when you click on the connect button. You do not normally need to do this because the browser knows the PB-4's IP address because that's where the user interface web files (HTML, etc.) you are currently viewing were loaded... -
Page 49: Propeller Balancing
Chapter 7. Propeller Balancing 7.1. Minimising other sources of vibration Propeller mass imbalance can be a major source of vibration. However, there are other sources of vibration as well. To minimise the overall vibration level and to make the dynamic balancing process more effective, all other sources of vibration must be minimised before dynamic balancing is carried out. -
Page 50: Dynamic Propeller Balancing
Dynamic propeller balancing propeller is statically balanced, the blades should be level . If one blade is heavier than the others (or its centre of mass is further from the centre of the propeller), it will dip towards the floor. If this occurs, weight can be added to the hub on the opposite side of the central axis to the dipping blade to bring the propeller level. -
Page 51: Taking A Vibration Reading
Please see the PB-4 Hardware Manual for a description of the PB-4 sensors and how they are attached to the aircraft. For maximum accuracy, the dynamic balancing process should only be carried out in light winds. Ideally, the wind should be less than 5 kts. The aircraft should be positioned so that it is pointing into any wind. -
Page 52: Balancing Procedure
If you want to improve the balance, you must carry out the balancing procedure as described in the next section. To reduce battery drain in the PB-4 and the tablet, it is best to disconnect the user interface from the PB-4 when you are not actually capturing points or viewing the live data. - Page 53 Balancing procedure Note Weight sites are numbered from 1 to the number of sites. Considering the direction of normal propeller rotation, site 1 will pass a fixed point (e.g. the tacho) before site number 2, and so on. The position and the mass of the required balance weight(s) is determined as follows: 1.
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Page 54: After Balancing
After balancing Note The PB-4 does not actually say that the propeller is balanced or not; it's left up to the operator to decide when to stop the process based on the IPS reduction achieved. 7.7. After balancing When the balancing has been completed, double-check that all balance weights are securely attached. -
Page 55: Adding Weight Does Not Reduce The Vibration Level
Adding weight does not reduce the vibration level vibration is out of phase with the propeller. Any of the following problems will cause the position of the polar point to vary: • The engine is not running smoothly or the engine mounts are in poor condition. - Page 56 www.smartavionics.com...
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Page 57: Rotor Balancing
PB-4 to balance a rotor is available from the Smart Avionics website. 8.1. Causes of rotor vibration Mass imbalance is one of the causes of rotor vibration and the PB-4 system can help you balance the rotor to eliminate that vibration. Other vibrations may also be present. -
Page 58: Rotor Adjustments
Furthermore, the amount of × 2 vibration being produced is influenced by the flight conditions (rotor speed, airspeed, etc.) At this time, the PB-4 system can only report the magnitude of the × 2 vibration and it does not offer any suggestions as to how the level of vibration can be reduced. -
Page 59: Balancing Procedure
Balancing procedure rotor is viewed from above with the master blade pointing forward) and a negative value is a shift to the left. Blade The relative pitch of the blades is commonly altered by Pitch adding/removing shims where the blades are attached to the rotor hub bar. -
Page 60: Measuring The Effect Of Adjustments
It is strongly recommended that you use the PB-4's offline capture button to capture the data while flying as this obviates the need to interact with the tablet while flying, it doesn't even need the tablet to be in the aircraft. -
Page 61: Creating Move Lines
Apply the suggested changes to the rotor and press the Apply Changes To Current Adjustments button to keep the PB-4 informed of those changes. Capture a few more points to see how good the result is. If you feel the balance could still be better, repeat the process by selecting one of the latest points and calculate a new solution. - Page 62 www.smartavionics.com...
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Page 63: Two Plane Balancing
"wobbles" on the supporting shaft, two plane balancing is required. This chapter describes how the PB-4 can be used to carry out two plane balancing using the two plane balancing dialog which is accessible through the main menu. -
Page 64: Two Plane Balancing Dialog
Two plane balancing dialog CORRECTION PLANES MEASURING PLANES Fig 9.1. Two plane balancing an object supported at both ends For overhung items, the configuration is as shown in the next figure. Note how the #1 measurement plane is close to the #1 correction plane but the #2 measurement plane is far from the #2 correction plane. -
Page 65: Balancing Procedures
Balancing procedures Assuming the required polar points have been captured, simply enter the points' row numbers into the appropriate input fields and the Deg and IPS values will be automatically filled out. Once the row numbers have been entered, the resulting solutions are shown below the table in the same format (ANGLE ×... -
Page 66: Single Accelerometer Procedure
• With no trial mass attached in either plane, capture a couple of points. The PB-4 will capture points from each accelerometer at the same time. • Attach a trial mass so that it is in correction plane 1 and capture a couple of points. - Page 67 Dual accelerometer procedure • Now attach the same mass so that it is in correction plane 2 and capture a couple of points. Mark the position of the mass and remove it. You now have all 6 points required. Take care to select the correct points when entering the data into the view.
- Page 68 www.smartavionics.com...
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Page 69: Configuration Values
Appendix A. PB-4 Configuration Values Here are the names and default values for the PB-4 configuration values, they control the behaviour of the PB-4. Unless advised to by Smart Avionics, do not alter any of these values. Name Default Notes... - Page 70 www.smartavionics.com...
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Page 71: User Interface Configuration
Appendix B. User Interface Configuration The PB-4 user interface has been designed to provide good functionality without being overly complicated. Some aspects of the UI are configurable via the UI configuration dialog. Click on the UI version number in the bottom right corner to open the UI configuration dialog. -
Page 72: Editing Rotor Profiles
(as a JSON file that can be imported into another PB-4) and delete the profile. If you wish to create a new profile, enter its name into the box at the top of the profiles section and hit enter. The new profile will be created and you can edit its values. -
Page 73: Editing Other Values
Remember that changes to most of these values will not take affect until the UI configuration has been saved and the PB-4 web page is reloaded. www.smartavionics.com... - Page 74 www.smartavionics.com...
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Page 75: Index
Index delete multiple jobs, 38 edit move line about dialog, 4 button, 19 accelerometer, 44 dialog, 24 calibration, 39 enable PB-4 offline capture access point checkbox, 36 set details, 39 add move line button, 19 adjustment window, 33 dialog, 17... - Page 76 rotor profile, 66 notes, 12, 22 choice, 45 erratic, 48 per spectral line, 32 options page, 37 save/restore data, 38 peak velocity, 43 sensorOffsets, 20 phase, 45 show all point checkbox, 31 best, 9, 17 show waveform, 12, 22 current, 7, 15 button, 11, 19 define start point, 12 solution, 8...
- Page 77 button, 10, 18 Wi-Fi AP mode, 1 STA mode, 1 wind, 49 with waveform data checkbox, 36 www.smartavionics.com...
- Page 78 www.smartavionics.com...
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