{"id":7419,"date":"2013-01-27T11:26:12","date_gmt":"2013-01-27T18:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=7419"},"modified":"2013-01-27T20:20:29","modified_gmt":"2013-01-28T03:20:29","slug":"fire-spotting-fiber-optics-and-intelligent-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/fire-spotting-fiber-optics-and-intelligent-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire Spotting, Fiber Optics and Intelligent Control"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ikhana, a civilian version of the military\u2019s Predator drone, has been used for years at the NASA Dryden Flight Test Center for a multiplicity of roles.\u00a0 Beginning in 2006, Ikhana carried onboard sensor systems<\/a> that spotted and tracked wildfires for ground and air-based firefighters.<\/p>\n

Ikhana was also used to evaluate advanced sensing technology<\/a> installed on its wings to improve its efficiency. The sensors incorporated fiber optic sensing technology, and were located side by side with traditional sensors. One NASA researcher noted, \u201cThere are 3,000 sensors on Ikhana that are imperceptibly small because they’re located on fibers approximately the diameter of a human hair.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Weight savings on an aircraft with an array of fiber optics would reduce operating costs and improve fuel efficiency, according to NASA.\u00a0 But these new sensors also \u201cenable adaptive wing shape control.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Lance Richards, of Dryden\u2019s Advanced Structures and Measurements Group, says, \u201c’Active wing-shape control represents the gleam in the eye of every aerodynamicist. \u00a0If the shape of the wing can be changed in flight, then the efficiency and performance of the aircraft can be improved, from takeoff and landing to cruising and maneuvering.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Richards, \u201cSix hair-like fibers located on the top surface of Ikhana’s wings provide more than 2,000 strain measurements in real time. With a combined weight of less than two pounds, the fibers are so small that they have no significant effects on aerodynamics. The sensors eventually could be embedded within composite wings in future aircraft. To validate the new sensors’ accuracy, the research team is comparing results obtained with the fiber optic wing shape sensors against those of 16 traditional strain gauges co-located on the wing alongside the new sensors.”<\/p>\n

Richards noted that the sensors could improve aircraft safety by monitoring stress levels at thousands of locations on the airframe throughout its lifetime and reporting on structural \u201chealth.\u201d\u00a0 Accumulated data could enhance designer\u2019s ability to craft lighter, stronger structures, reducing fuel costs and increasing range.\u00a0 Such monitoring could also help \u201cprevent situations that might otherwise result in a loss of flight control.”<\/p>\n

Lessons from Ikhana, the Choctaw Native American word for \u201cintelligent, conscious, or aware,\u201d have helped make the F\/A-18 Full Scale Advanced Systems Testbed (FAST) aircraft more aware \u2013 and intensely conscious of its aerodynamic situation at any moment.<\/p>\n

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F\/A-18 No. 853 used in adaptive wing technology, intelligent control programs<\/p><\/div>\n

Tests with F\/A-18 No. 853, modified as part of the Intelligent Control for Performance (ICP) research project, evaluate whether small modifications to existing control laws and mechanisms in the aircraft\u2019s flight control computer can reduce fuel consumption.<\/p>\n

ICP involves \u201ca special computer code called a peak-seeking algorithm… programmed into the aircraft’s Airborne Research Test System computer,\u201d and enables precise adjustments to control surface deflections to reduce aerodynamic drag and lead to reduced fuel burn and emissions.\u00a0 This would fulfill at least one goal of NASA\u2019s Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xsE-q54-1zk<\/p>\n

Tests show a three- to five-percent fuel savings compared to the baseline trim state in two flight conditions, something airlines would relish for their fleets.<\/p>\n

Next summer, NASA will apply a new \u201cthin film\u201d sensor from TAO Systems<\/a> on the aircraft\u2019s upper control surfaces in a move to characterize airflow over the wing.\u00a0 NASA thinks, \u201cThis sensor capability could lead to considerable weight reduction, fuel savings, and flight safety enhancement in future aircraft designs by revealing the actual flight loads on an aircraft to help ensure that design loads are not exceeded.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA also projects that this technology \u201ccould… reduce the effects of gusts and turbulence on an aircraft when coupled with appropriate flight control algorithms.\u201d<\/p>\n

These tests could lead to more aerodynamically efficient, smoother riding aircraft in our future and help make the skies in which they fly cleaner and safer.\u00a0 Technologies that NASA tests now will eventually be incorporated into the jet liners and private aircraft of tomorrow.<\/p>\n