A Surface-Mounted Rotor State Sensing System

A surface-mounted instrumentation system for measuring rotor blade motions on rotorcraft, for use both in flight and in wind tunnel testing, is proposed for development. The technology builds upon previous Navy- and NASA-sponsored SBIR work in the design of a system for measuring rotor blade motion and loads, by combining several separate measurement technologies into a single instrumentation unit. The device may be applied onto the underside of any rotor system, and has a sufficiently small weight and form factor to minimize any impact on either blade aerodynamic or inertial properties. Data transfer to and from the unit is performed using optical telemetry, and power for the system is provided from self-contained conformal batteries. A novel feature of the new approach is the dual-use nature of the telemetry link to provide additional blade position measurements. These features eliminate the need for specialized rotor hub hardware for blade angle measurement or sliprings for power or data exchange, thus enabling its use on a wide range of rotor systems of interest to NASA and commercial customers.