Lynx Software Technologies Provides Certifiable Software Platform for Airborne Wind Energy Generation System

MUNICH, GERMANY--(Marketwired - April 20, 2016) -  Aviation Electronics Europe -- Lynx Software Technologies, a world leader in the embedded software market, today announced that LynxOS-178 has been selected as the software platform for Ampyx Power. Ampyx Power is developing an Airborne Wind Energy system with a PowerPlane, a tethered aircraft that converts wind into economical green electricity.

Erik van der Heide, Head of Engineering at Ampyx Power, commented, "To be able to market our technology successfully, it is crucial that we comply with the highest safety standards. Not only should the level of the quality and reliability of our system be high, it needs to be measurable and controllable as well. We have chosen to be able to certify our product according to stringent civil aviation safety guidelines, so we need a software platform that supports us in achieving acceptance by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and other relevant aviation authorities. The fact that LynxOS-178 is a Commercial off-the-Shelf (COTS) operating system which has received acceptance for reusability from the FAA for DO-178 certification, and from EASA, was an important criterion in our selection process."

He continued, "The Ampyx Power system represents an exceptional design challenge. The aircraft can fly completely autonomously. PowerPlanes take off, fly and land autonomously from a platform, by utilizing a vast array of sensor suites which provide the autopilot with critical information to perform the task safely. It is designed to spend unusually long periods in the air -- it can remain airborne 24 hours a day seven days a week if conditions are suitable, and is designed for a service life of 20 years. The aircraft needs a software platform of exceptional stability and reliability. LynxOS-178 fully meets that requirement. During the selection process and subsequent development work, we enjoyed a close and productive relationship with the Lynx team."

Lee Cresswell, EMEA Sales Director, Lynx Software Technologies, added, "We are very excited to be offered the opportunity to contribute to a unique system that will create economical renewable energy for many years to come. Ampyx Power's technology is an excellent and highly innovative use case for LynxOS-178, demonstrating its ability to help design teams achieve the accreditations they need to get safety-critical airborne systems to market quickly and with minimal risk."

About Ampyx

Ampyx Power is developing an Airborne Wind Energy system, a 2^nd generation wind energy technology. A tethered aircraft, the PowerPlane, converts wind at an altitude of up to 450m into electricity. When the aircraft moves, it pulls the tether which drives a generator on the ground. Ampyx Power is working towards a 2MW PowerPlane with a wingspan of 30m (size of 1 blade of a wind turbine) for market introduction in 2019. Ampyx Power is set to disrupt the energy market due to high energy yield and low cost/kWh, coupled with low visual, noise & environmental impact -- allowing a fast transition towards a sustainable energy mix. Ampyx Power's main office is based in The Hague, The Netherlands, and employs a top notch team of 40 employees. For more information, visit www.ampyxpower.com or follow us on Twitter: @ampyxpower

About Lynx Software Technologies

Lynx Software Technologies, a world leader in the embedded software market, is committed to providing the highest levels of safety and security in its RTOS and virtualization products. The latest product in the portfolio, the award winning LynxSecure offers a secure separation kernel and embedded hypervisor that forms a platform for the development of highly secure systems. Since it was established in 1988, Lynx Software Technologies has created technology that has been successfully deployed in thousands of designs and millions of products made by leading communications, avionics, aerospace/defense, and consumer electronics companies. Lynx headquarters are located in San Jose, CA. For more information, visit www.lynx.com.

The URL for this release is located at: www.lynx.com

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