OPTICAL FIBER DATA TRANSFER SYSTEM (SLIP RING REPLACEMENT)

THE PROPOSED OPTICAL DATA TRANSFER DEVICE WOULD BE USED TO TRANSFER DATA BETWEEN A FIXED AND ROTATING SYSTEM. IT HAS THE POTENTIAL OF BEING UNEXPENSIVE, RELIABLE AND HAVING HIGH DATA RATE CAPABILITY. THE DEVICE IS BASED ON USING A "LOSSY" OPTICAL FIBER AS A 360 DEGREE DETECTOR WHICH INTERCEPTS ENERGY FROM AN OPTICAL SOURCE SUCH AS A LASER DIODE OR LIGHT EMITTING DIODE (LED). WITH THE HIGH DATA CAPABILITY OF THE OPTICAL LINK, SEVERAL LOW DATA RATE INFORMATION CHANNELS COULD BE TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEX (TDM) INTO A SINGLE CHANNEL TO BE SENT OVER THE NON-CONTACTING OPTICAL LINK, THUS FURTHER REDUCING COST AND COMPLEXITY. A DETAIL ANALYSIS WOULD BE DONE ON HELICOPTER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ALONG WITH OTHER POTENTIAL SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER TO DEFINE THE CONFIGURATION OF THE OPTICAL TRANSFER DEVICE. SINCE THE OPTICAL DATA TRANSFER DEVICE IS BASED ON PROVEN EXPERIMENTAL DATA, MOST OF THE PROPOSED EFFORT WOULD BE ADAPTING THIS TECHNIQUE TO A SLIP RING APPLICATION. THE PROPOSED GOAL WOULD BE TO HAVE A WORKING BREADBOARD SYSTEM ALONG WITH MEASURED PERFORMANCE WHICH WOULD INDICATE THAT PHASE II DEVELOPMENT WOULD BE WARRANTED.