Multilayered and Arrayed Sensor Suite for Engine Control and Diagnostics
Navy SBIR FY2010.1


Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2010.1
Topic No.: N101-013
Topic Title: Multilayered and Arrayed Sensor Suite for Engine Control and Diagnostics
Proposal No.: N101-013-0296
Firm: Physical Optics Corporation
Information Technologies Division
20600 Gramercy Place, Bldg. 100
Torrance, California 90501-1821
Contact: Naibing Ma
Phone: (310) 320-3088
Web Site: www.poc.com
Abstract: To address the Navy's need for dual-purpose sensor suites for engine control and diagnostics, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Multilayered and Arrayed Sensor Suite (MASS). The proposed MASS is based on highly integrated multitypes of fiber optic sensors arrayed on a single MEMS chip coated with polymer-derived silicon aluminum carbon nitride (p-SiAlCN) film. The innovative new design of a highly integrated multilayered MEMS sensor suite, new sensor array design, and novel p-SiAlCN film coating on the MEMS will enable the MASS to realize in-situ real-time, fail-safe engine control and diagnostics. As a result, this system offers at least 25% cost and 20% weight reductions, and is reliable, capable of surviving the harsh engine environment, as well as self-calibrating and self-diagnosing, all of which directly address the Navy JSP-Pro, PMA-261 H-53, and PDBM requirements. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of MASS with a conceptual design using the IEEE 1451.4 Standard and a prototype demonstration. In Phase II, POC plans to develop the system architecture, sensor suite, wiring, and algorithms, and to develop an engineering prototype and demonstrate the prototype''s ability to detect faults and provide the high-fidelity information necessary for engine control.
Benefits: The MASS system can be integrated into turbine engines to provide more robust control, reduce NRE and support costs, and interface with onboard health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) for engine health diagnostics. The system will also provide real-time monitoring of engine parameters to maximize engine prognostics and health management (PHM) functionality. Successful development of the MASS will produce a series of high-performance robust fiber optic MEMS sensors such as temperature sensors, pressure sensors, vibration sensors, proximity sensors, and velocity sensors. These sensors will not only be useful for engine control and diagnostics in commercial aircraft, vessels, and ground vehicles, but can also be used in other industrial control systems.

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