RUAG Aerospace Uses wenglor Sensors in Helicopter Tests
Pilots have to generate a great deal of control input when flying helicopters. The effects of the various controls are directly dependent upon each other. Good coordination and continuous correction are thus absolutely essential. The pilot works incessantly, leaving nothing to chance, above all during unstable hovering or low-speed flight, for example when landing. Stated simply, he controls flight direction with the cyclic stick and altitude with the collective stick. Tail rotor thrust is regulated with the pedals, making it possible to control rotation of the helicopter around the lift axis. Measuring these control inputs in a Bell UH-1D MAT helicopter at RUAG Aerospace was the task assigned to the CP24 Reflex Sensor for Measuring Tasks manufactured by wenglor sensoric gmbh.
RUAG Aerospace is an aviation and aerospace company with headquarters in Emmen, Germany. It’s part of RUAG Holding in Bern. RUAG Holding’s annual turnover amounts to $1000 million. RUAG Aerospace has two locations in Germany. The company’s primary activities include R&D, production and assembly of, and services for, structural components, as well as maintenance and improvement of airplanes, helicopters, drones, guided missiles and air defense systems. With 445 employees, RUAG Aerospace Services in Wessling, Germany, is a certified maintenance, manufacturing and R&D company for civilian and military aircraft with 50,000 square meters of production floor space.
wenglor’s Reflex Sensor for Measuring Tasks provides ideal results in the helicopter: It acquires control input motions for gas, the collective stick, the cyclic stick and the pedals which are executed by helicopter pilots in a contactless fashion. It measures the position of an individually attached target plate which moves towards or away from the sensor during control input. Several factors make wenglor’s Reflex Sensor for Measuring Tasks an ideal solution for the task at hand: The short response time of 660 ms, the high resolution CMOS line array thanks to which no switching point differences are caused by shape, color or surface characteristics, the measuring range which is calibrated with an accuracy of down to 10 mm and unbeatable precision with a resolution of less than 30 mm speak for themselves.
A sensor with optical scanning was selected for use in the BELL UH-1D MAT helicopter, because in this case there are no mechanical connections to the helicopter’s controls. This provides RUAG Aerospace with the advantage of ruling out any possible mechanical failure of the system. “The Reflex Sensor has a measuring range of 120 mm which covers all control input motions in the helicopter model for gas, the collective stick, the cyclic stick and the pedals”, says Wolfgang Zangmeister, R&D engineer at RUAG Aerospace Services in Wessling. In this application, the data from the measuring system are transmitted via the integrated digital device interface at the Reflex Sensors, and are then processed by a data processing module located in the helicopter.
“On the ground as well as in the air, the measuring system has always been fully functional”, notes Wolfgang Zangmeister. RUAG Aerospace had already made successful use of wenglor sensors in recent years. wenglor places high priority on quality for its broad range of innovative, high-tech products. The Tettnang sensor manufacturer pays close attention to customer benefits, and has comprehensive service offerings as well.