Smart Sensor Wireless

Transcription

1 Smart Sensor Wireless By: James Alich, P.E. 812 Aircraft Instrumentation Test Squadron (AITS) Edwards Air Force Base DISTRIBUTION A. Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited 412-TW-PA-18255

2 Wireless Instrumentation 812 th Instrumentation Squadron has been looking at many solutions. Particularly in the cargo aircraft area there are multiple needs. Cargo area is difficult to clamp wire in- lacks structural support. Wire runs are typically long due to aircraft size. Cockpit area needs temporary/short term wiring. Sometimes loose wiring in the cargo area is a hazard.

3 C-17 Cargo Area C-17 Cargo area looking fwd Measures 88 feet long, 18 feet wide and 12 4 high Plan to install the entire wireless instrumentation network in this area

4 Wireless Instrumentation Exploring COTS item developed and sold by LORD Sensing ( Purchased WSDA-200-USB gateway SG-Link LXRS wireless node, SG-Link LXRS OEM (bare board) and G-Link-200 Tri-axial accelerometer. Planning a test on a C-17A; rigging a strain link (dog bone) with the SG-Link wireless node attached to it. Two strain gage (one on either side of the narrow section of dog bone) will be instrumented and connected to the wireless node.

5 Wireless System Architecture Installed in wing box area Installed in forward cargo area, Near avionics rack (to test radio range and for EMI) Installed on strain link

6 WSDA-200-USB USB Gateway that connects to a PC for communication with wireless nodes. Three radio power settings, Low, Standard, and Extended (up to 2km range, 400m typ.) IEEE to GHz (16 channel) Up to 2000 nodes per gateway. System bandwidth dependent on configuration

7 COTS Item (SG-Link LXRS) Battery powered wireless node for Strain Gages Two analog inputs, 1 differential, 1 singleended 12 bit resolution each with adjustable gains 1 internal temperature Three sampling mode: continuous, periodic, datalogging Single-pole Butterworth filter (@250Hz) factory configurable

8 COTS Item (G-Link-200) Battery powered tri-axial wireless MEMS accelerometer + Temp 20 Bit resolution 1 sample per hour to 4096 Hz sampling rate Output raw accel waveform or derived Velocity, Amplitude, Crest Factor Three sampling mode: continuous, periodic, event-triggered. Capable of measuring up to 40g in any direction.

9 Additional Instrumentation Torque Link LXRS Same strain gage instrumentation as SG-Link For shafts rotating up to 4200 rpm TC-Link-6CH-LXRS Thermocouple node (6 channels plus humidity Option) Internal Cold-Junction-Compensation IEPE-Link-LXRS Will interface with Piezoelectric transducers Programmable burst mode for up to 104kHz.

10 Test Method For testing, planning on installing in the C-17A cargo deck Rigging a strain link (dog bone) with the SG-Link wireless node attached to it. Two strain gage (one on either side of the narrow section of dog bone) will be instrumented and connected to the wireless node. Strain link installed on a drogue parachute so as to receive strain data. Mount accelerometer near the wing box of the C-17A to test the sampling rates and wireless capability. Install the OEM SG node further forward near the loadmaster station Wireless gateway will pool data from accelerometer, and both the strain gages, sending wirelessly to laptop via USB dongle connection.

11 Modified Strain Link

12 Case Study #1 C-130 Nosewheel steering instrumentation Modified column Upper Column Adapter Torque Sensor Clamp Assembly Lower Column Adapter Production parts

13 Case Study #2 C-130/C-17 cargo winch instrumentation

14 Case Study #3 Stick/yoke force sensing Transducer shown in orange Measures torque and force

15 Wireless Instrumentation Advantages Low impact to aircraft for installation Useful for 1 or 2 specific measurements Greatly simplifies instrumentation complexity Safer in some instances

16 Wireless Instrumentation Disadvantages Battery powered Depending on battery capacity, may impact airworthiness Mission time dependent on battery life More work to prepare instrumentation for mission Low data rates that vary with configuration Poor filtering Potential cyber-security issues

17 Where We Are Today Instruments in hand Building strain-link and enclosure for SG-Link-LXRS OEM Integrating software with instruments Evaluating the link Planning on putting on a C-17 this summer