Intelligent Fuel Transport Monitor

The problem of measuring the flow of fuel in the testing of military aircraft has, so far, been addressed with the use of conventional inline flowmeters, which require lengthy installation/removal times and substantial modification of the fuel lines to allow sensor insertion. Commercial non-invasive flowmeters do not possess the accuracy and robustness required by the U.S. Air Force in its flight test events. Hedgefog Research Inc. (HFR) proposes to develop a new Intelligent Fuel Transport Monitor (IFTM) technology, which offers dramatically reduced development risks by adopting mature, commercialized technologies for non-intrusively measuring the true fuel mass transport onboard test aircraft. In Phase I of the project, we will demonstrate the basic feasibility of meeting the Air Force performance requirements in IFTM. In Phase II, we plan to acquire the COTS components, integrate the prototype hybrid IFTM sensor with HFR’s proprietary software algorithm, and construct a laboratory test bench for carrying out sensor performance characterization.