Novel Photonics Sensing and Systems for Military Metrology

Graham Wild

Sir Lawrence Wackett Aerospace CentreSchool of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Manufacturing

EngineeringRMIT University 1

2nd IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for Aerospace 2015Military Metrology for Aerospace

What am I going to talk about?• What is photonics?• Why are we interested in photonics for

military aerospace metrology?• What are the origins of aerospace metrology,

and specifically photonic systems?• What are the metrological applications of

photonics in the military?• How are these likely to evolve?

2

What is Photonics?• Photonics is the scientific study and

application of light, typically visible and IR

3

Why Photonics?• VFR – Fundamental to Aviation• Situational Awareness• Artificial vision systems• Enhancing and augmenting situational

awareness• Beyond the visible spectrum

4

Why Photonics?• Advantages of waveguide optics

– speed of light signal transmission,– small size and weight,– low transmission loss, and wide bandwidth giving

higher transmission rates over long distances,– immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI),– electrically isolated, i.e. no ground loops, crosstalk ,

or electrical hazards,– signal security since the signal is confined to the

fibre, and– abundant and inexpensive raw material

5

Why Photonics?• Advantages of optical metrology

– greater sensitivity

• Specific advantages of optical fibre sensors– reduced size,– reduced weight,– reduced cost,– versatility,– reliability, and– compatibility to optical communication and

telemetry

6

History Aerospace Metrology & Photonics7

Wright Flyer – 1903

First Gun Sight – 1918

F-35 – Today

Aerial Surveillance – WWI

RADAR, VLF Navigation – WWII

TACAN (DME, VOR etc) – 1950’sDoppler, INS – 1960’s

Cockpit Displays (F-111) – 1967

GPS – 1990’s

HUD – 1940’s to 1950’s

Helmet Mounted Displays – 1970’s

NVG – 1960’s to 80’s

Military Metrological Applications1. Structural Health Monitoring

– Nishant – Heron – Planar Waveguides

2. Inertial Navigation Systems– Gyros – Accelerometers – Micro Photonics

3. Novel Optical Fibre Sensors– Engine Instrumentation – Air Data

4. Electro-optic Sensing– IR Sensors – DAS – Hyperspectral Imaging

5. Photonics Systems– Data Buses – Fly By Light

8

Structural Health Monitoring• Nishant UAV SHM• Smart Fibres; NAL India; TAU

Israel– 4 linear arrays made up 4 FBGs

integrally embedded in each of the UAV’s composite tail booms during manufacturing

– Online monitoring while in operation

– Reduces grounding– Enables on condition

maintenance

9

Tur, M., et al., Proc. Of ICAUV, pp. 3-4 (2009)

Structural Health Monitoring• Israeli Air Force• Medium Altitude Long

Endurance UAV - Heron• 54 FBGs (Oct 2013)

10

Tail Booms

Wing Connection Fuselage MountKressel, I., et al., Proc. of 7th EWSHM, pp. 274-280 (2014)

SHM Future – Planar Waveguides11

J. Leuthold, C. Koos & W. Freude Nature Photonics 4, 535

International Journal of Aerospace Engineering 2011, 985871

Inertial Navigation• Optical Gyro

– Ring Laser Gyro– Fibre Optic Gyro

• Replaces mechanical gyroscopes

• Rotation rate sensor• Case Study

– Northrop Grumman LTR-97

– VG/DG • Retrofit for C-130

12

Northrop Grumman

Tooley, M., Wyatt, D., (2009)

Pavlath, G.A., Proc SPIE (2006)

Inertial Navigation• Accelerometers• Transducer design• Acceleration to Strain• 1G resolution with

interferometry• FBGs 3 axis system• Fibre laser sensor

13

Jiang, Q., Yang, M., Meas. Sci. Technol. 24 (2013)

Basumallick, N., et al., Comsol (2012)

Guo, T., et al., Opt. Express, 17(23) 20651 (2009)

INS Future – Micro Photonics• Micro Photonic Crystal

Fibres• Hollow Core Photonic

Bandgap Fibres• Reducing bias errors

– thermal effects, – magnetic effects, and – non-linear effects

• Tapered Fibres– Increasing path length– Increasing sensitivity– Reducing size

14

Vengalathunadakal, S.K., et al., Proc SPIE (2009)

Cohoon, G., et al., Opt. Eng. 49(3) (2010)

Novel Optical Fibre Sensing15

Steering (Rotation)

Fuel

OBIGGS

Kazemi, A.A.Yang, C. Chen, S. Proc. SPIE, 9202 ( 2014)

Mendoza, E.A., et alProc SPIE, 8026 (2011). Javahiraly, N. Chakari, A. Proc. SPIE, 8720 (2013)

Air Data16

Engine Instrumentation17

Temperature

Pressure

RPM

IR Systems

• 1950’s Sidewinder Missile (guidance)• Target tracking and night vision systems• Modern systems tending towards dual band• Size and weight reducing as systems evolve• Panoramic IR imaging systems for field of view• Development of materials

– HgCdTe (0.8 to 25 um) PbSe (1.5 to 5.2 um)

18

Far IRMid IR

Near IRLWIRSWIR MWIR

Driggers, R.G., SPIE Professional (2014)

IR Systems• AN/AAQ-37 Electro Optic Distributed Apature System• 6 onboard the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II• 4 steradians (solid angle) unobstructed field of view• Warns of incoming aircraft & missiles, providing day/night

vision, fire control capability and precision tracking of wingmen/friendly aircraft for tactical maneuvering

19

Northrop Grumman

IR Future – Hyperspectral Imaging• Spectral and intensity measurement (RGB systems)• IR information from spectra of burning substances• Further target identification and classification• Airborne systems already used for geospatial studies

20

Christopher K. Egan et al. Proc. R. Soc. A, 2014

Photonic Systems• Data Buses

• Point to point – 1980’s Harrier• LAN – 1985 A-12

• Data over fibre examples:• McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier• General Dynamics F-16 Falcon• Boeing F/A-18 Hornet• Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor• Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II• Eurofighter Typhoon

21

Photonic Systems22

• Case Study – Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor• High Speed Data Bus – 50Mbps star topology• Fibre Optics Transmit Receive Bus – 400Mbps• Direct fibre link to sensor systems (such as RADAR)• Cockpit displays feed data from GPU via fibre link

Brower, R.W., In The Avionics Handbook, Spitzer, C. R. ed, CRC Press, pp 32.1-32.11 (2001)

Photonic Systems• Fly-by-light• F-18 Test Aircraft

– 1 Aileron• in-flight local control• fault monitoring• redundancy management

– Challenges identified• fibre optic terminations• cable harness

composition• optoelectronic

components thermal sensitivity

23

Zavala, E. NASA White Paper NASA/TM-97-206223 (1997).

PS Future – All Optical Aircraft24

Figueroa, L., et al. IEEE LCS

PS Future – Power Over Fibre• Monochromatic efficiency 45%• Power for UAV servos• Control for flight controls• Integrated systems for

comms, power, sensing

25

Revision1. Structural Health Monitoring

– Nishant – Heron – Planar Waveguides

2. Inertial Navigation Systems– Gyros – Accelerometers – Micro Photonics

3. Novel Optical Fibre Sensors– Engine Instrumentation – Air Data

4. Electro-optic Sensing– IR Sensors – DAS – Hyperspectral Imaging

5. Photonics Systems– Data Buses – Fly By Light -

26

Thank you

Comments?Question?

Suggestions?

27