Biomimetic optical sensor for real-time aircraft wing deflection measurement

Reducing the environmental impact of aviation is a primary goal of NASA aeronautics research. One approach to achieve this goal is to build lighter weight aircraft, which presents complex challenges due to a corresponding increase in structural flexibility. Wing flexibility can adversely affect aircraft performance from the perspective of aerodynamic efficiency and safety. Knowledge of the wing position during flight can aid active control methods designed to mitigate problems due to increased wing flexibility. Current approaches to measuring wing deflection, including strain measurement devices, accelerometers, or GPS solutions, and new technologies such as fiber optic strain sensors, have limitations for their practical application to flexible aircraft control. Hence, it was proposed to use a biomimetic optical sensor based on the common housefly’s vision system to track wing deflection in real-time. This fly eye sensor has several advantages over conventional sensors used for this application, including light weight, low power requirements, fast computation, and a small form factor. This paper reports on the fly eye sensor development and its application to real-time wing deflection measurement.