Robust Sensor for In-Flight Flow Characterization

The proposed innovation has commercial applications for the airline industry whose current focus is on safety and efficiency. All-weather air data systems are beneficial for aircraft health monitoring & warning systems. Faults related to aircraft air data systems have been a cause of loss-of-control accidents and incidents. For example, an airspeed sensing system fault is suspected of triggering a chain of events that resulted in the loss of Air France flight 447; faulty angle- of-attack sensing is suspected of causing uncommanded motion in the crash of Qantas Flight 72; and faulty air data calibration due to moisture was suspected of causing uncommanded motion resulting in a stall and subsequent crash of the B-2A bomber in Guam. Sensor redundancy is necessary but may not be sufficient to ensure safety and reliability of the flight systems, e.g., common mode failures across redundant sensors such as Pitot tube icing in all airspeed sensors. Therefore, all-weather air data systems with transduction mechanisms different from pressure-based Pitot tubes mitigates the common mode failure to ensure sufficient redundancy through independent air data measurements.

The ability to cruise efficiently at a range of altitude, enabled by a substantial increase in cruise lift-to-drag (L/D) ratios over today's high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, is vital, providing sustained presence and long range. Aerodynamic load/moment sensors would enable the efficient, robust active control of adaptive, lightweight wings to optimize lift distribution to maximize L/D. Cost-effectively improving the energy capture and reliability of wind turbines would help national renewable energy initiatives. A standalone aerodynamic load/moment sensor could provide output for control feedback to mitigate the turbine blade lifetime-limiting time varying loads generated by the ambient wind, irrespective of rain and icing conditions. More »