Integration of Onboard Distributed Flow Sensing Using AF Intellectual Property US9658087B1

The Air Force Research Laboratory developed artificial hair sensor (AHS) has great potential to increase the availability of aerodynamic forces acting on a surface. This technology leverages the use of small carbon nanotube whiskerized hairs embedded in capillaries which exhibit a piezo response when subjected to surface flow. The small size of these sensors creates significant challenges in manufacturing the AHS at a scale which enables their use in large sensor arrays. Multicore Photonics (MP) has identified six key manufacturing processes essential for manufacturing the AHS. MP is proposing a study of these key technologies to determine what changes are required to the manufacturing process to move towards a functional prototype array and eventually production scale arrays. The analysis provided by MP will look at both individual processes as well as the overall manufacturing processes to determine where improvements can be made to increase efficiency and enable AHS technology to be integrated at an industrial scale.