A SOLID STATE AUTONOMOUS ICE PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR ALL-WEATHER RPV'S

INCREASED PERFORMANCE DEMANDS BEING MADE ON RPV'S WILL SOON REQUIRE AN ALL-WEATHER ICE PROTECTION CAPABILITY. THE OBJECT OF OUR STUDY WILL BE TO APPLY UNIQUE ICING SENSOR AND ICE PROTECTION TECHNOLOGIES WHICH WERE DEVELOPED BY INNOVATIVE DYNAMICS (IDC) UNDER A RECENT NASA SBIR CONTRACT. WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEICED A RPV TYPE WING SECTION LEADING EDGE DURING PRELIMINARY TESTS PERFORMED WITHIN OUR ICING RESEARCH LAB. THE SYSTEM EMPLOYED TO REMOVE ICE FROM THE RPV WING SECTION MOCK-UP IS CALLED RODIS: RESONANT OSCILLATORY DEICING SYSTEM. THIS STUDY WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING RODIS AS AN EFFECTIVE ICE PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR RPV'S, AS WELL AS A MEANS OF EMPLOYING SOLID STATE SENSORS AND ACTUATORS AS KEY RODIS SYSTEM COMPONENTS. A LAB MODEL WING SECTION WILL BE CONSTRUCTED TO DEMONSTRATE THE CLOSED LOOP (STATIC) DETECTION & REMOVAL OF GLAZE AND RIME ICE. THIS IS WILL PAVE THE WAY TOWARDS DEVELOPING AN AUTONOMOUS ICE PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR RPV'S WITH LOW-COST AND LIGHTWEIGHT-SOLID STATE COMPONENTS.