Position sensing system

A system for determining a physical position of a fight control surface of an aircraft, comprising:

• means for transmitting an incident pulse of light;
• means for dividing the incident pulse of light into a plurality of incident pulses of light;
• means for reflecting the incident pulses of light and for providing a plurality of reflected pulses of light;
• means for delaying the incident pulses of light and for delaying the reflected pulses of light;
• means for detecting the reflected pulses of light;
• wherein a signal encoded in a binary format and representative of the physical position of the flight control surface is provided to the means for detecting the reflected pulses of light.

A method for determining a physical position of a flight control surface of an aircraft, comprising:

• transmitting an incident pulse of light from a light source through a primary optical path and subsequently dividing the incident pulse of light into a plurality of incident pulses of light;
• transmitting the incident pulses of light through a plurality of secondary optical paths;
• reflecting the incident pulses of light with a reflector;
• transmitting the reflected pulses of light through the secondary optical paths and subsequently transmitting the reflected pulses of light through the primary optical path;
• detecting the reflected pulses of light with a control system having a photodetector;
• wherein an encoded signal representative of the physical position of the flight control surface is read by the control system.

A passive sensing system for determining a physical position of a flight control surface of an aircraft, comprising:

• an encoding system configured to provide a signal encoded in a binary format and representative of the physical position of the flight control surface;
• a single fiber optic cable having a first diameter and coupled between a light source and the encoding system;
• a plurality of fiber optic cables each having a second diameter less than the first diameter and configured for coupling to an end of the single fiber optic cable;
• wherein an illumination pulse from the light source is divided into a plurality of pulses by the plurality of fiber optic cables.