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Small Autonomous Aircraft Servo Health MonitoringSmall air vehicles offer challenging power, weight, and volume constraints when considering implementation of system health monitoring technologies. In order to develop a testbed for monitoring the health and integrity of control surface servos and linkages, the Autonomous Aircraft Servo Health Monitoring system has been designed for small Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platforms to detect problematic behavior from servos and the air craft structures they control, This system will serve to verify the structural integrity of an aircraft's servos and linkages and thereby, through early detection of a problematic situation, minimize the chances of an aircraft accident. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's rotary-winged UAV has an Airborne Power management unit that is responsible for regulating, distributing, and monitoring the power supplied to the UAV's avionics. The current sensing technology utilized by the Airborne Power Management system is also the basis for the Servo Health system. The Servo Health system measures the current draw of the servos while the servos are in Motion in order to quantify the servo health. During a preflight check, deviations from a known baseline behavior can be logged and their causes found upon closer inspection of the aircraft. The erratic behavior nay include binding as a result of dirt buildup or backlash caused by looseness in the mechanical linkages. Moreover, the Servo Health system will allow elusive problems to be identified and preventative measures taken to avoid unnecessary hazardous conditions in small autonomous aircraft.
Document ID
20090013385
Acquisition Source
Armstrong Flight Research Center
Document Type
Other
Authors
Quintero, Steven
(Emery Riddle Aeronautical Univ. Daytona Beach, FL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
August 9, 2008
Subject Category
Avionics And Aircraft Instrumentation
Report/Patent Number
DFRC-709
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2007 McNair Symposium
Location: Berkeley, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: August 9, 2007
End Date: August 12, 2007
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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