Fire Spotting, Fiber Optics and Intelligent Control

Dean Sigler Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Ikhana, a civilian version of the military’s Predator drone, has been used for years at the NASA Dryden Flight Test Center for a multiplicity of roles.  Beginning in 2006, Ikhana carried onboard sensor systems that spotted and tracked wildfires for ground and air-based firefighters. Ikhana was also used to evaluate advanced sensing technology installed on its wings to improve its efficiency. The sensors incorporated fiber optic sensing technology, and were located side by side with traditional sensors. One NASA researcher noted, “There are 3,000 sensors on Ikhana that are imperceptibly small because they’re located on fibers approximately the diameter of a human hair.” Weight savings on an aircraft with an array of fiber optics would reduce operating costs and improve fuel efficiency, according to NASA.  But these new sensors also “enable adaptive wing shape control.” NASA’s Lance Richards, of Dryden’s Advanced Structures and Measurements Group, says, “’Active wing-shape control represents the gleam in the eye of every aerodynamicist.  If the …