Wireless Test Instrumentation
System for Rotating Parts
Paul Inguanti - Company Advisor
Chris Winslow - Senior Test Engineer
Rajeev Bansal - ECE Project Advisor
Robert Gao - ME Project Advisor
ECE Team 167
Lawrence Bogan
Jeremy Neaton
Adam Bienkowski
Michael Golob
ME Team 29
Sean Handahl
Ken Thompson
Caleb Browning
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Outline
1. Company Background
2. The Problem
3. Project Goals
4. Wireless Transmission
5. Sensors
6. Microcontroller
7. Battery
8. Energy Harvesting
9. Timeline
10.Budget
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Sikorsky
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Aircraft and helicopters
Founded 1925 by Igor Sikorsky
1942 R-4/Hoverfly - first stable, single-rotor, fully
controllable helicopter to enter mass production, most
based off this design
Presidential transporters since 1957 - VH-3 and VH-60
Well known products - UH-60 Blackhawk and SH-60
Seahawk
75% sales military
29% military global market share
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Problem
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Wired Sensors have some deficiencies that reduce the reliability of the system
o Wires can be heavy
o Wires break, connectors fail
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) solve these problems, but bring new
problems to the table:
o System maintenance must be minimal
Must last for a minimum of 1 year, 3 years recommended
o Power Consumption for the system must be very low
Battery Life and Energy Harvesting are key focal points
o WSN must operate in a noisy environment
Proof of concept that the receiving data is the same as the
transmitted data
o Packaging/Installment Issues
Entire system must fit in a 1.5" diameter by 5.1" long electronics
cavity
Packaging must protect the WSN from high vibrations,
temperatures, and condensation
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ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Problem
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Problem
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Project Goals
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ECE
o Sensor selection / measuring of data
o Signal analysis, storage, and transmission
o Battery selection and power management
ME
o Design and creation of test rig
o Energy harvesting/energy generation to
power/recharge system
o Mounting and installation of sensors and transmitter
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Block Diagram
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Wireless Transmission
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Wireless device must be able to transmit data over a distance of about 40 feet.
The measuring system is located in the tail rotor and the stationary receiver is
located in the cabin.
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Infrared Wireless - Very weak distance travel and must have a direct line of sight
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Bluetooth - Covers up to 30 feet. It it designed for low-power simple wireless
networking and supports fewer devices as well. Data can be transmitted relatively
slow at times.
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Wi-fi - Consumes a lot of power and can produce too much heat. Very expensive
as well.
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ZigBee - Wireless chip that is low cost and provides low power consumption and
transmits data at a far distance.
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Sensors
• Temperature
o -20 to 250ºF
• Vibration
o Accelerometer
o Piezoelectric
o ~20kHz vibration frequency
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Microcontroller
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Acquire sensor data
Perform Fast Fourier Transform
Data compression and storage
Control of wireless tranceiver
Standby mode when helicopter is not running
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Battery
• Battery needs to last at least 1 year, Sikorsky would like it to last 3 years
• Needs to be able to work after 30 days of inactivity
• Looking into high capacity batteries that are able to fit into the cavity
• Possible batteries of interest are lithium iodide and lithium ion
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Energy Harvesting
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the process of gathering extra energy to be used for power. will extend
the life of the electronics
can use thermal, vibration, or magnetic energy harvesting methods
thermal relies on a temperature gradient. unpredictable in a helicopter
due to altitude changes.
vibration is viable and relatively constant in helicopter. turns strain into
energy. energy created is relatively small. system may be too large to
implement
magnetic uses coils and a magnet to create a kind of alternator. every
time the coils pass the magnet energy is generated. efficient but will
needs installation on the moving parts
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Timeline
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Budget
• Our budget, from Sikorsky is $4,000 and will cover the following:
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Wireless Transmitter
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Microcontroller
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Sensors
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Battery
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Equipment for Energy Harvesting
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Packaging for WSN
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Representative Rotating System
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012
Wireless Test Instrumentation System for Rotating Parts
Questions?
ME Team 29 - ECE Team 167
Senior Design Fall 2012