REDOWL

REDOWL Board Stack

Ciholas is involved in the development of leading edge innovative products. No project typifies this more than the Robot Enhanced Detection Outpost With Laser (REDOWL). REDOWL was developed by the The Photonics Center at Boston University as a payload for the iRobot PackBot Explorer robot. The payload is a remote deployable sensor suite designed to provide early warning information, gunshot detection, intelligence, surveillance and targeting capabilities to military forces and government agencies. The technology allows soldiers to rapidly identify and suppress sniper fire, particularly in difficult urban warfare environments.

Ciholas provided BU with critical assistance in electrical and mechanical integration of the REDOWL design onto the Explorer system. Our work involved miniaturizing and implementing the existing design elements of REDOWL as well as providing design work in the areas of power supply filtering, USB interface to serial and Ethernet, Ethernet PHY interface, thermal design, and board level support with testing and debugging. We developed the final complete schematics, the complex board floor plan, and the board layout for the entire system including jigs for testing. The layout requirements ranged from critical analog processing chains to high speed memory buses. We also developed 3D mechanical models to verify the mechanical integration and to assist BU in developing a final mechanical enclosure.

3D Solid Model of Board Stack and Enclosure

Our team put in extra effort to meet BU's schedule. The project took less than eight weeks from final design requirements to operational board sets, including the prototype build. Despite the compressed schedule the resulting electronics were flawless. In a design spanning 3 boards, 7,500 total parts, and over 20,000 electrical nets there were no cuts, jumps, or errors. The board set will not require any revisions for production. This high standard is not unusual for Ciholas as our development process and careful attention to detail have always resulted in working boards on the first pass.

Explorer fitted with REDOWL

"It is essential to have the technical skill, design tools, company focus, and sense of urgency to succeed on a rapid development project like REDOWL. Mike Ciholas and the team at Ciholas met every challenge, beat the schedule, and produced the board layout and finished product in record time. Their technical expertise and performance were absolutely superb with no cuts and no rework. I will work with them again." -Dr. Glenn Thoren Director, The Photonics Center at Boston University Ciholas is extremely pleased to have contributed to the REDOWL project and continues to support BU in deploying this innovative technology.

Inquiries on the REDOWL system should be directed to: The Photonics Center at Boston University.