Networked Accelerometer System for Control of Aeroelastic Response (NASCAR)

An embeddable/retrofit distributed accelerometer network, configured in a stripline configuration, is proposed as a means of extracting aeroelastic response from a flight vehicle for use in damping augmentation and general flight control applications.  The system builds on significant prior work at CDI on similar networked acceleration measurements conducted on rotor blades, and leverages further advancements in reduced power, size, and weight of components with enhanced localized processing of sensor data.  The measurement system allows for self-calibration in its extraction of aeroelastic modal response from flight vehicles, and provides all-important “phase lead” for use in flight control and stabilization from its incorporation of accelerometer measurements.  The system includes measurement features not available in conventional fiber-optic based systems, such as the capability for modal rate response estimation, and is not encumbered by the usual additional bulky interface hardware needed for processing optical fiber reflections and refractions for sensor signal extraction.