Rotary wing aircraft blade tracking
A blade tracking system for a rotary wing aircraft includes a blade sensor mounted on a blade of the rotary wing aircraft, the blade sensor wirelessly transmitting blade data; a reference sensor mounted to the rotary wing aircraft, the blade driven by the rotor hub, the reference sensor transmitting reference data; and a processor receiving the blade data and the reference data, the processor determining at least one of lead-lag, flap and pitch of the blade in response to the blade data and the reference data.
1. A blade tracking system for a rotary wing aircraft, the system comprising:
a plurality of blade sensors mounted directly on and over a span of a blade of the rotary wing aircraft, the blade sensor wirelessly transmitting blade data, the plurality of blade sensors being capable of performing local processing of data;
a reference sensor mounted to a rotating rotor hub of the rotary wing aircraft, the blade driven by the rotor hub, the reference sensor transmitting reference data; and
a processor receiving the blade data and the reference data, the processor determining at least one of lead-lag, flap and pitch of the blade in response to the blade data and the reference data.
2. The blade tracking system of claim 1 wherein:
the reference sensor wirelessly transmits the reference data.
3. The blade tracking system of claim 1 wherein:
the plurality of blade sensors wirelessly transmit raw data as the blade data.
4. The blade tracking system of claim 1 wherein:
the plurality of blade sensors wirelessly transmit preprocessed data as the blade data.
5. The blade tracking system of claim 1 wherein:
the at least one of lead-lag, flap and pitch of the blade is determined for a tip of the blade.
6. The blade tracking system of claim 1 wherein:
the blade data indicates blade motion in nine degrees of freedom.
7. The blade tracking system of claim 6 wherein:
the nine degrees of freedom include three axis linear acceleration, three axis angular acceleration, and three axis magnetic motion sensing.
8. The blade tracking system of claim 1 further comprising:
at least one second blade sensor mounted on a second blade of the rotary wing aircraft, the at least one second blade sensor wirelessly transmitting second blade data.
9. The blade tracking system of claim 8 further comprising:
a tachometer generating a tachometer signal indicative of rotation phasing of a rotor hub.
10. The blade tracking system of claim 9 wherein:
the processor computes a distance between the blade and the second blade in response to the blade data, second blade data, reference data and tachometer signal.
11. A rotary wing aircraft comprising:
an airframe;
a rotating rotor hub;
a rotor blade driven by the rotor hub;
a plurality of blade sensors mounted directly on and across a span of the blade, the blade sensor wirelessly transmitting blade data, the plurality of blade sensors being capable of performing local processing of data;
a reference sensor mounted to the rotor hub, the reference sensor transmitting reference data; and
a processor receiving the blade data and the reference data, the processor determining at least one of lead-lag, flap and pitch of the blade in response to the blade data and the reference data.
12. The rotary wing aircraft of claim 11 wherein:
the reference sensor wirelessly transmits the reference data.
13. The rotary wing aircraft of claim 11 wherein:
the plurality of blade sensors wirelessly transmits raw data as the blade data.
14. The rotary wing aircraft of claim 11 wherein:
the plurality of blade sensor wirelessly transmits preprocessed data as the blade data.
15. The rotary wing aircraft of claim 11 wherein:
the at least one of lead-lag, flap and pitch of the blade is determined for a tip of the blade.
16. The rotary wing aircraft of claim 11 wherein:
the blade data indicates blade motion in nine degrees of freedom.
17. The rotary wing aircraft of claim 16 wherein:
the nine degrees of freedom include three axis linear acceleration, three axis angular acceleration, and three axis magnetic motion sensing.
18. The rotary wing aircraft of claim 11 further comprising:
at least one second blade sensor mounted on a second blade of the rotary wing aircraft, the at least one second blade sensor wirelessly transmitting second blade data.
19. The rotary wing aircraft of claim 18 further comprising:
a tachometer generating a tachometer signal indicative of rotation phasing of a rotor hub.
20. The rotary wing aircraft of claim 19 wherein:
the processor computes a distance between the blade and the second blade in response to the blade data, second blade data, reference data and tachometer signal.