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>> The single word I would use
to characterize FOSS is revolutionary.
If it can be used and utilized and implemented effectively,
I believe it can really revolutionize the way we do our
business in aerospace.
>>Gamechanger. Fiber optics is a gamechanger
because we can lay a line of fiber in any orientation
on that structure and we can get a continuous measurement
of strain.
>> It's a gamechanger because it gives designers real time
information which they never had before.
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>> These are all individual fiber optic sensors on the wing,
and then these are the individual strain values.
>> We have deeper insight into how a structure performs,
not only in operation but all the way through its life cycle
from the development of the structure;
as you get it ground tested, as you transition
into a flight environment, as you get to the end
of a life cycle when you're trying
to determine how much life is really remaining
in the structure?
FOSS can save time on your schedule for installing sensors,
it can give you greater insight and much more spacial fidelity
in your measurement system than ever before.
>> We have given the designers a new tool within their toolbox
to use to validate their models.
>> The state of the art technology
in fiber optic sensing is something we've been advancing
in order to be able to allow a wing in flight
to maintain the optimal configuration
and the first step towards wing shape control is knowing what
the position or the displacement or deformations of that wing is
as they traverse through the air and they're subjected
to wind gusts and atmospheric turbulence and things like that.
The genesis of FOSS came about as a result of working
with conventional technology.
What I mean by that is strain gauge technology
in particular, and thermal couples.
Strain gauges measure strain
and thermal couples measure temperature.
>> This is the conventional way
of doing health monitoring for structures.
Each one of these connectors is the termination for each one
of these gold packages that you see mounted on this panel.
And each of these gold packages,
these conventional strain gauges,
have with them the associated wires that have
to be soldered on, has to be prepared,
they have to be terminated using various types of connectors.
There's a lot of work involved
in installing these conventional strain gauges
and with the strain gauges,
they are only making point measurements.
So wherever you see a gold package, we are making
that strain measurement at that one location.
>> Imagine having your arm have one measurement
and you wouldn't be able to feel anything else around it,
it's kind of limiting.
Same thing structurally, you don't have a lot of insight
into what's going on in the structure
if you have a sensor every several feet.
The FOSS technology allows you
to have a sensor every quarter inch along the single optical
fiber; that allows you to look more and more
like a biological system.
>>Very light weight, much easier to install, less complexity,
21 strain measurements, 1400,
one thousand four hundred strain measurements on a single fiber.
For practical purposes, you can put as many of these fibers
on your vehicle as you want to or on your structure as you want
without sacrificing the weight requirements.
>> Instead of using current and voltage and resistance
of that electrical resistant strain gauge,
now we're shining a light down this optical fiber.
>> And as that light propagates down the fiber,
it comes in contact with what we call Bragg gratings.
And these Bragg gratings are like translucent mirrors that
reflect at very unique wavelengths.
These unique wavelengths
that are reflected are actually sampled and measured.
>> Those changes in wavelength are what we calibrate
to engineering parameters.
>> One of the powerful aspects of FOSS is
that it's not only the number of measurands
that you can monitor, a measurand being strain or
temperature, basic engineering parameters
that we use quantify a structure's performance.
It could also measure liquid level, magnetic field,
three dimensional shape.
>> As I apply pressure on this test article,
we can see how the shape is changing,
as well as the intensity
of the strain being felt by the test article.
What we have here is the demonstration
of the liquid level sensing technology.
What we're able to do is use the fiber optic sensors
to monitor the different absorption rates of the liquid
and the air to determine where is the boundary
between liquid and air.
Here we have a demonstration
of our hybrid fiber optic system.
With this, we're able to get our quarter inch spatial resolution,
at up to 100 samples a second and at strategic places,
we can place a strong grating that we call it,
allows us to acquire strain measurements
at up to 5 kilohertz.
>> I think commercial applications are really endless
and the more that we explore interest in different realms,
we understand that there's really a role for FOSS in ways
that we never imagined to begin with.
>> In 20 years, the hope is that we would see this
on commercial aircraft; we would see it
on expendable launch vehicles,
as health management systems for ELVs.
Another big area is oil and gas; monitoring the drill head on a
down-hole rig, being able to look
at what the status is on the holding tanks.
>> Liquid level inside of tank, in cryogenic propellants
or in any kind of fluid through pipes.
>> The list just goes on and on.
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>> I think what excites me most
about FOSS is seeing the light go on in people's eyes,
the lightbulb actually shows up above people's heads
when you start to describe, for the first time,
the capability of the technology.
This could really change the way they do business.
This could save a lot of time
on their schedule because now they only have one system
that can perform all these measurements.
So for me, seeing that epiphany, seeing that actually develop
and seeing the application potential, I think,
has really been rewarding.
You know, it does go almost anywhere into various places
where you're monitoring structure,
structural response so to see
that happen is pretty rewarding and exciting.