System and method for structural monitoring using optical imaging of fiber sensors

The method of assessing the integrity of a structure, comprising the steps of:

• coupling light into a plurality of optical sensors;
• modulating the light in respective ones of said optical sensors in response to a stimuli;
• coupling the modulated light from said optical sensors into a video camera, and
• forming an array of signals representing the relative amount of modulation of the light from the respective optical sensors.

A flight control system for controlling stress in an airframe including control surface, the system comprising:

• a light source for generating a plurality of optical signals;
• a plurality of means coupled to said light source for guiding said optical signals;
• a plurality of optical sensors coupled to said guiding means, said sensors being adapted to modulate respective ones of said optical signals in response to stress-related stimuli from the airframe;
• a plurality of means for directing the modulated optical signals to an optical detector;
• said optical detector coupled to said plurality of directing means, said detector including means for generating data representative of airframe stress;
• means coupled to said optical detector for comparing the generated data to stored data representative of airframe stress limits;
• and
• means, responsive to the comparison, for setting control surfaces so that the airframe stress is maintained within limits.

A flight control system for setting control surfaces on an aircraft to control stress in an airframe, the system comprising:

• a plurality of optical sensors for sensing stress in an airframe;
• an optical detector coupled to said sensors, said detector including means for generating data representative of airframe stress;
• means coupled to said optical detector for comparing the generated data to stored data representative of airframe stress limits;
• and
• means, responsive to the comparison, for setting the control surfaces so that the airframe stress is maintained within limits.

The method of controlling airframe stress, comprising the steps of:

• coupling light into a plurality of optical sensors;
• modulating the light in respective ones of said optical sensors in response to a stress-related stimulus;
• coupling the modulated light from said sensors into a video camera to form an array of signals representing the relative amount of modulation of light from the respective optical sensors and to convert the optical array to digital data;
• digitally processing the digital data to assess the integrity of the structure;
• issuing advisories regarding the assessment;
• and
• setting control surfaces of the airframe in response to the advisories.

The method of setting aircraft control surfaces to control airframe stress, comprising the steps of:

• modulating light representative of stress in the aircraft using sensors;
• converting the modulated light to a digital electrical signal using a video camera;
• processing the digital signal to assess the level of stress in the structure;
• and
• setting the control surfaces in response to the assessment of the level of stress.

A flight control system comprising:

• optical sensors for sensing stress in an airframe;
• an optical detector, coupled to the sensors for converting optical stress signals to digital stress signals;
• a digital computer coupled to the optical detector for assessing the electrical stress signals and for issuing optical control signals to trim the airframe in response to the measured stresses;
• and
• optical fibers coupled to said sensors, said detector and said computer and to the airframe for transmitting both said optical stress signals and said optical control signals.