SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY
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Strategic Alliance:
Odetics Inc. in Anaheim said Monday that it is teaming up with a Maryland aerospace engineering firm to develop a new generation of space data recorders.
The new recorders will be based on solid-state, or microchip, technology instead of the magnetic tape technology used in current recorders, the company said. The recorders are used on space shuttle missions and other space vehicles to capture data on tape and transmit it back to Earth.
Odetics, which has been building space recorders since 1971, said it will accelerate the development of solid-state recorders through a strategic alliance with CTA, based in Rockville, Md.
“I think we will see a melding of the different technologies and the market may evolve from a mixture of tape and solid-state to pure solid-state recording,” said Kevin Daly, vice president and chief technical officer of Odetics. Daly declined to say how much Odetics would invest in the effort. Space recorders account for about 30% of Odetics’ estimated $70 million in annual revenue.
The solid-state technology could potentially be built at lower cost than the magnetic tape recorders.
“I think new opportunities will open up with new technologies,” Daly said.
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