Development of a contactless measurement system for real time monitoring of a proprotors flapping angle – Part two

Abstract

To ensure the flight safety of a tilt-rotor aircraft, it is important to monitor the flapping motion of the proprotor in real time. Therefore, as part of the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking funded project "FLAPsense" (No. 785571), a sensor system is being developed that can perform this measurement task in a non-contact and real-time manner. The system, which is integrated into the proprotor assembly and rotates with the rotor hub, is based on a high-precision optical sensor method that provides the avionics system with the actual flapping motion of the rotor disc. As a continuation of the "part one paper" from ETTC '21, the "part two paper" will provide a reminder of the details of the measurement task and present the latest achievements in terms of the FLAPsense sensor unit development. Finally, it gives an outlook on the next steps to bring the FLAPsense sensor system into flight.