Fast prototyping design for the realization of avionics modifications for the STC in the CS-23 environment

This thesis will propose the work I carried out in collaboration with the EASA-certified company DigiSky, which specialized in aerial observation through proprietary solutions. New technological developments have led the company to sign an agreement with the Metasensing radar antenna manufacturers for the introduction of this type of sensor on board their aircraft, to expand the range of services dedicated to their customers. From this partnership arises the need to design, build and certify a support capable of keeping the antenna correctly in position during all flight phases, and this is precisely the goal of the thesis. Today modifying a specific avionic component is an extremely long and expensive process: in fact, numerous phases are required, from design to final installation, passing through production and certification by flight tests. This thesis aims to create an overview of the technologies available and usable to reduce the time and efforts required for the entire production chain, focusing more on rapidly developing technologies such as additive manufacturing and sheet metal cutting and bending, to make changes to the avionic components in a short time, compatible with the needs of the end-user. In the end, will be analyzed the current regulatory system and all the documents necessary for the validation and certification of the change in the EASA CS-23 context. The theoretical work will be applied to a practical case study, showing how it is possible to obtain the desired result, thanks also to the collaboration between the various production departments of the company, to obtain a complete work, from the design to the certification of a prototype.