Publication:
- VermontBiz.com
This past Wednesday, March 2nd, MicroStrain President and CEO, Steve Arms was presented with the Best Paper Award at the prestigious 7th DSTO International Conference on Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS), taking place in conjunction with the Australian International Air Show at the Fourteenth Australian International Aerospace Congress (AIAC14).
The AIAC conference objective was to present key innovations and achievements in aeronautic technologies and systems, and their current and future aerospace applications. Increasingly, land vehicles, marine vehicles (including submarines), and aircraft (including helicopters), are being managed using Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) approaches. All these approaches rely on HUMS to ensure the availability, reliability, and safety of critical, high-value assets.
Arms' paper, Flight Testing of Wireless Sensing Networks for Rotorcraft Structural HUMS, describes MicroStrain's work with the US Navy to flight test an advanced, next generation sensing system for structural loads monitoring of the critical rotating components on a Sikorsky MH-60S helicopter. This represents the first successful system demonstration in flight of a wireless data acquisition system, capable of autonomous self-configuration and data aggregation. The system features energy harvesting capabilities to eliminate battery maintenance, using the helicopter's ambient strains and vibrations to power the wireless nodes.
"We're honored to be recognized with "Best Paper" at the AIAC14 HUMS Conference," says Steve Arms, "and we are grateful to the US Navy/NAVAIR for their support under the Navy BAA program to conduct our work."
The work conducted by MicroStrain represents break-through wireless sensing technology, not only for helicopters but also in condition based monitoring across a range of industries. Such systems can be used to monitor a wide variety of machines and structures including fixed wing aircraft, wind turbines, heavy equipment, and rotating machinery. Embedded energy harvesting wireless sensors can detect potential failures before they occur, extend the life of machines and structures, significantly reduce operating costs, and enhance safety.
MicroStrain is a leading manufacturer of inertial measurement systems, micro-displacement transducers, wireless sensor networks, and energy harvesting technologies. MicroStrain's sensors are used in a variety of industrial, defense, and medical applications including testing of new designs, controlling critical manufacturing processes, navigating unmanned vehicles, platform stabilization, wearable tracking systems and extending the operating life of machines and structures. Recognized as a leader in the sensor industry, MicroStrain has received multiple awards for product innovation.
