Wednesday, October 28, 2009
IFOS announces award of Phase II SBIR contract for Intelligent and Robust Sensor Network for Distributed Engine Control

In Phase II, IFOS will continue the development of a robust intelligent sensor technology and fiber-optic network for sensing temperature and pressure in high temperature/ vibration gas turbine engine propulsion system applications. The existing Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC) architecture for aero-engine control system does not have the expansion capability to provide features and functionalities meeting the increasing demands of Test & Evaluation, health management and aircraft control integration. A new paradigm of lightweight, high reliability and wide bandwidth optical fiber data network is needed. Further, Distributed Control System (DCS) architectures are also necessary to enable modular design and inherent scalability via continued COTS technology advances. A key technology hurdle is adapting COTS to an aircraft propulsion environment. The technology will be validated in the laboratory and in ground engine tests outside IFOS. The success criterion is the survival of the fiber-optic network sensor system on an engine that is on the ground (Phase II) and in the air (Phase III). In Phase II, IFOS will build, test on a real engine, and deliver a detailed demonstration of a 4-node, self-healing, CWDM Optical Ring Network (CORIN), extendable to a DWDM Optical Ring Network (DORIN), in a jet engine environment. The overall benefit of a fiber-optic network is the creation of a high-speed backbone that will support the addition or subtraction of distributed sensors and subsystems on the engine without investing in a redesign of the FADEC. Additional benefits are: weight savings, improved control scheduling, improved data quality, improved speed of communications enabling flexibility in distributed designs, improved EMI/EMP tolerance, immunity to directed energy weapons, reduction of costs and time to market, enabling the ease of addition of new technology, ease of maintenance and the support for the engine life cycle from ground test, flight test and production flight. Benefits are realized across the entire development and life cycle of an aero- engine. This provides a path to a technology maturity level with many benefits: Ground Test: saves labor and time installing sensors and wiring, creates flexibility in engine scheduling by not having to wire thousands of engine sensors to the test cell instrumentation, creates a safer and greener work environment, and improves data quality; Flight Test: similar to the list above for Ground Test, and saves in weight, improves EMI/EMP tolerance; Production Flight: saves weight by eliminating wires, offers advanced and improved distributed controls, adds health monitoring without having to upgrade the FADEC.

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