A new trend in the field of Aeronautical Engine Health Monitoring is the implementation of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for data acquisition and condition monitoring to partially replace heavy and complex wiring harnesses, which limit the versatility of the monitoring process as well as creating practical deployment issues. Augmenting wired with wireless technologies will fuel opportunities for reduced cabling, faster sensor and network deployment, increased data acquisition flexibility, and reduced cable maintenance costs. However, embedding wireless technology into an aero engine (even in the ground testing application considered here) presents some very significant challenges, for example, a harsh environment with a complex RF transmission channel, high sensor density, and high data rate. In this paper we discuss the results of the Wireless Data Acquisition in Gas Turbine Engine Testing (WIDAGATE) project, which aimed to design and simulate such a network to estimate network performance and derisk the wireless techniques before the deployment.
Due to its cable-free deployment, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have drawn great attention as a new technique for industrial data acquisition. However, the harsh environment of the gas turbine engine provides a number of challenges to the deployment of wireless sensors. A definitive study of the impacts of harsh environments on the WSNs is currently lacking, which represents an obstacle to WSN's deployment in safety-critical industrial instrumentation and automation. In this paper, we report the test results of applying WSNs to data acquisition in gas turbine engine testing and the development of a realistic software simulator with the purpose of de-risking the wireless data transmission technology in a project called WIDAGATE. This paper provides an overview of the simulation platform developed and investigates how small-scale tests of a WSN deployed on a real engine were used to validate and improve the simulator platform. This work proposes the realistic modelling of the physical layer (radio channel) when subject to interference in harsh industry environment during aero engine testing. Based on the validated, realistic physical layer model, different MAC protocols are simulated to demonstrate how this improved simulator can be used to select an appropriate protocol.
Conventional flap and slat high-lift surfaces actuation systems in a commercial aircraft consist of actuators mechanically connected via a transmission system across the wingspan, driven from a centralised power drive unit comprising of a hydraulic, electric, or hybrid hydraulic/electric motor arrangement. The permanent coupling to the shafts makes the entire flap system move in unison, as do the slats. This paper will investigate and discuss different potential system architecture, and present the benefits associated with such architecture. It will also present the advantage that can be linked to a full electric flap configuration.
Unmanned systems are becoming widely utilised in dirty, dull, and dangerous missions and they are seen as key enablers in gathering data and acquire information that are then relayed back to the control station. Their utilisation is essential to increase the command centre situation awareness and provide the information superiority required not only in military, but also in civil and commercial applications. Two major issues associated with unmanned systems' exploitability are the costs associated with sophisticated sensor platforms and the limited datalink band. This paper provides an overview of high-level sensor management system architecture that it is envisaged to provide a twofold advantage to the sensor system. Firstly, it will provide onboard data processing and intelligent data classification, which is seen as a means to significantly reduce the utilisation of the datalink. Secondly, it will allow enhancing the sensing capabilities of commercialoff-the-shelves (COTS) sensors, which would imply a significant reduction in the cost of the payloads.
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