Innovative P1451-Enabled Smart Power IVHM Sensor

NASA has expressed a requirement for advanced Smart Sensors to support new systems for harsh environments. Power systems are an integral component of virtually any electronic or electromechanical system and thus are an excellent application for non-intrusive power system state-of-health and IVHM-enabled sensing. Ridgetop will provide a non-intrusive, eigenvalue-based, IEEE P1451-compatible, power system health sensor. The sensor connects to the power source, as a "black box", by means of a current pickup loop, and load changes produce a characteristic response that contains the intrinsic eigenvalues. Variations in the eigenvalues from nominal are correlated with internal component degradation or aging, and reveal the overall state-of-health of the power supply. By P1451 enabling the Smart Sensor, interfacing to Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring (IVHM) systems is fully supported and adoption of this technology will be much more rapid.