Multilayered and Arrayed Sensor Suite for Engine Control and Diagnostics

To address the Navy’s need for dual-purpose sensor suites for engine control and diagnostics, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Multilayered and Arrayed Sensor Suite (MASS). The proposed MASS is based on highly integrated multitypes of fiber optic sensors arrayed on a single MEMS chip coated with polymer-derived silicon aluminum carbon nitride (p-SiAlCN) film. The innovative new design of a highly integrated multilayered MEMS sensor suite, new sensor array design, and novel p-SiAlCN film coating on the MEMS will enable the MASS to realize in-situ real-time, fail-safe engine control and diagnostics. As a result, this system offers at least 25% cost and 20% weight reductions, and is reliable, capable of surviving the harsh engine environment, as well as self-calibrating and self-diagnosing, all of which directly address the Navy JSP-Pro, PMA-261 H-53, and PDBM requirements. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of MASS with a conceptual design using the IEEE 1451.4 Standard and a prototype demonstration. In Phase II, POC plans to develop the system architecture, sensor suite, wiring, and algorithms, and to develop an engineering prototype and demonstrate the prototype''s ability to detect faults and provide the high-fidelity information necessary for engine control.