Intelligent Fiber Optic Laser-based Interrogation System

To address the Navy’s need for an intelligent laser-based fiber optic (FO) system for Condition Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) of Naval platforms, Intellisense Systems, Inc. (Intellisense) proposes to develop a new Intelligent Fiber Optic Laser-based Interrogation System (IFOLIS) based on a cost-effective laser, a tunable modulator and filter, and distributed fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors combined with an artificial intelligence (AI) processing algorithm. Specifically, the innovative design of a tunable laser and AI algorithm with feedback control enables high strain sensitivity detection of low amplitude, high frequency, and short duration ultrasonic bursts of energy generated by growing cracks or other sources. It achieves strain sensitivity of 100 femto-strain/sqrt(Hz) in the frequency range from 10 kHz to 1 MHz, with thermal drift compensation through the AI algorithm and feedback control. Being intelligent, IFOLIS is reliable and capable of continuous structural health monitoring with high resolution (from micro to macro scales). Based on and benefiting from commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) standard optical communication components, it is cost-effective. As a result, IFOLIS can power, sense, and communicate between a centralized health management unit and all the different nodes, sensors, and actuators of a platform-wide distributed FO network. In Phase I, Intellisense will demonstrate the feasibility of IFOLIS through design and development of an IFOLIS proof-of-concept prototype and will develop prototype plans for Phase II. In Phase II, Intellisense plans to develop and demonstrate the IFOLIS prototype and work with the Navy for laboratory testing and user assessments.