STTR Opportunities for Wireless Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) Sensor Array Development
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How can variables be measured in environments that are too hot, too cold, or moving too fast for traditional circuit-based sensors? A new technology for obtaining multiple, real-time measurements under extreme environmental conditions is being developed under Phase 1 and 2 funding contracts from NASA's Kennedy Space Center’s Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. Opportunities for early deployment licensing and Phase 3 STTR contracts are now being accepted. Passive, remote measuring systems can be created using new Orthogonal Frequency Code (OFC) multiplexing techniques and specially developed, next-generation SAW sensors. As a result, very cost-effective applications such as spaceflight sensing (for instance, temperature, pressure, or acceleration monitoring), remote cryogenic fluid level sensing, or an almost limitless number of other rigorous monitoring applications are possible.
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STTR Opportunities for Wireless Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) Sensor Array Development
- 1. Five challenges 1. How can you measure … … strain and torsion on turbine blades? Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 1 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 2. Five challenges 2. How can you measure … … extreme temperature ranges? Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 2 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 3. Five challenges 3. How can you measure … … life-critical environmentals? Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 3 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 4. Five challenges 4. How can you measure … … in hard to reach places? Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 4 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 5. Five challenges 5. How can you measure … … things you need to count on? Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 5 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 6. Solution How? Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) sensors … passive, no batteries … small, thin footprint SAW … … wireless transmission … -150°C to +1,000°C operation … environmentally tough Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 6 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 7. Existing technology SAW devices are not new Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 7 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 8. New innovation SAW sensor arrays ARE new Interrogator Sensor 1 Clock Sensor 3 Postprocessor Sensor 2 Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 8 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 9. New innovation SAW sensor arrays ARE new Interrogator Sensor 1 Clock Sensor 3 Postprocessor Sensor 2 Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 9 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 10. Proven concept It works – Phase 1 STTR Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 10 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 11. Prototype Demo – Phase 2 STTR July 2011: portable demo unit Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 11 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 12. Implementation STTR opportunities Phase 2 … demo by summer 2010 … NASA program sponsorship … “real world” field testing Phase 3 … several sensors ready … … more sensors to be tested Interested? Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. 12 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
- 13. Contact: Doug Foster Fuentek, LLC (919) 249-0327 www.fuentek.com/technologies/SAW.htm Copyright © 2009 Fuentek, LLC. All rights reserved. Fuentek, LLC material designed for presenta?on purposes only. August 2009 Reproduc?on without prior wriCen permission of Fuentek, LLC is strictly prohibited by law.
Editor's Notes
- How? Today you can’t. Turbine engines operate at over 10,000 RPM; every blade is critical. If one is damaged the whole engine can vibrate severely. If a bird strike occurred on take-off, how would a pilot know for certain whether the engine was damaged or OK?
- How? Today, not very easily. One type of sensor cannot cover all temperature extremes. In space, very hot and very cold temperatures can exist on the same surface at the same time. It is not easy or affordable to monitor many data points with many sensors on a single surface, such as a wing or heat shield.
- Gases can be poisonous, corrosive, or explosive; they can build-up slowly. Radiation can render many types of sensors inoperable. Active (battery powered) sensors may be located where batteries can not be easily changed (even under the skin?).
- Hundreds or thousands of low-cost sensors could be needed inside pipelines, such as at a refinery. How can you monitor oil breakdown (contaminants, viscosity) inside a sealed shock absorber? Today you can’t. Manifold pressure, lubricating oil, temperature, and torque in an engine may all need to be monitored at once.
- How could you “know” the tires on a Space Shuttle were in perfect working order before landing. How could you “know” the exact temperature and flow rate of the exhaust inside a rocket engine nozzle?
- When compared to silicon based sensors, Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) sensors have many advantages. SAW sensors also cost much less than powered, silicon based sensors. Lower cost means you can use more sensors to determine aggregate measurements.
- SAW technology was developed in the mid 1960’s. SAW devices are widely used (for frequency filtering) today in cell phones.
- Until now, multiple SAW sensors could not be grouped into a sensor network. Until now, a SAW sensor needed to be within a meter or two of the transmitter/receiver. Networks with hundreds of SAW sensors that are hundreds of meters away from the transmitter/receiver are foreseeable.
- Until now, multiple SAW sensors could not be grouped into a sensor network. Until now, a SAW sensor needed to be within a meter or two of the transmitter/receiver. Networks with hundreds of SAW sensors that are hundreds of meters away from the transmitter/receiver are foreseeable.
- Phase 1 STTR funding is to develop and prove a concept. Temperature was accurately measured using wireless SAW sensors.
- Phase 2 STTR funding is to demonstrate that a working concept can be made commercially viable. The University of Central Florida’s Center for Acoustoelectronic Technology (CAAT), under Dr. Donald Malocha, has been developing SAW devices for many years. UCF CAAT selected Mnemonics as their partner for the Phase 2 project. Mnemonics are radio frequency (RF) experts and will build the interrogator device (the component that transmits, receives, and processes the return signal from the SAW sensors). The first demo interrogator should be small enough to fit in a briefcase. It can be made even smaller eventually.
- The Phase 2 demonstration will occur by summer 2011. Additional funding could move the date ahead by as much as 12 months. There is no SBIR/STTR funding during Phase 3. We are looking for internal NASA programs that can sponsor a Phase 3 activity. SAW sensor networks may behave differently under “real-world” conditions. An example: could vibrations from an aircraft engine cause sensors monitoring an aircraft wing to report false readings? Nobody knows until the arrays are tested under “real-world” conditions. Some sensors (temperature, fluids) are ready for production, still more (pressure, strain, etc) need further development.
- This is a unique opportunity to be involved with what could become a multi-billion dollar industry in the coming decade. Please contact us. We will be evaluating project requests through the end of CY09.