Ge Aviation Systems Limited

General Electric Company

Timothy Robert North

Steven Bonnett

Tod Alexander Gilbert

Paul Michael Dunning

Daniel Lee

Matthew William Wiseman

Nicholas Keningley

Techniques for employing a smart sensor device that has a primary sensing function for sensing a state of a physical component and can concurrently enable one or more backup functions for sensing one or more states of one or more other physicals components in response to one or more other smart sensor devices not being able to perform their primary function of sensing and/or reporting on the one or more states of the one or more other physical components.

Method and system for enabling component monitoring redundancy in a digital network of intelligent sensing devices

A system and method for acquiring accurate vibration data, time of arrival, or other mechanical state for a mechanical system with rotary elements, such as a planetary gear system with multiple planet gears that rotate relative to a central sun gear, or blades in a turbine engine. Multiple vibration sensors are arranged at spaced intervals along the exterior of the gear system (such as along the ring gear of the system or the exterior housing of the system). Each vibration sensor is so situated as to periodically detect vibrations from each one of the planet gears in succession, as the planet gears rotate around the central sun gear. Using timing and gear-system configuration information, a determination is made as to which gear is being sensed by any one sensor at any time; also determined is which teeth of each gear are being sensed by a particular sensor at any one time. The system and method consolidates the vibration data from multiple sensors to determine a consolidated vibration profile for each planet gear.

Monitoring of a revolving component employing time-synchronized multiple detectors

A system and method preserves raw vibration data for a physical event involving a transport vehicle such as a helicopter, plane, boat, car, or truck. The event may involve unexpected mechanical stresses on the vehicle. The system and method preserves raw vibration data for parts of the transport vehicle, such as from multiple points along the drive train. The preserved raw vibration data includes data from time prior to the physical event. In an embodiment, the system and method continuously detects vibration data, and stores the most recent vibration data in a circular memory buffer. The buffer is continually updated with the most current vibration data. When an event is automatically detected or manually triggered, the most recently saved vibration data is transferred from the buffer to permanent storage, along with vibration data obtained subsequent to the event. This allows for a more thorough post-event analysis.

Preserving vehicular raw vibration data for post-event analysis

A system and method relates to analysing data indicative of system performance for a vehicular transport system. More particularly, the present invention relates to integrating aircraft management, monitoring, and maintenance systems, such as Health & Usage Monitoring/Management Systems (HUMS), On-board Maintenance Systems (OMS), Cockpit Voice & Flight Data Recorders (CVFDR), and/or Quick Access Recorder (QAR) previously distributed over multiple systems, into a single circuit card assembly (CCA). The single circuit card may consist of the electronics needed for data acquisition, processing, storage and transmission to support all of the above systems and similar. The present system and method is further related to running the software to perform aircraft management, monitoring, and maintenance functions on the single common CCA.

Integrated system for improved vehicle maintenance and safety

Techniques for employing a smart sensor device () that has a primary sensing function for sensing a state of a physical component and can concurrently enable one or more backup functions for sensing one or more states of one or more other physicals components in response to one or more other smart sensor devices (and/or) not being able to perform their primary function of sensing and/or reporting on the one or more states of the one or more other physical components.

Systems and techniques to facilitate generating and/or encoding rotational data associated with a mechanical element are presented. A sensor system can measure rotational speed data and phase data associated with a mechanical element that rotates. The sensor system can also encode the rotational speed data and phase data into a digital data packet. Furthermore, the sensor system can transmit the digital data packet associated with the rotational speed data and phase data to one or more sensor devices in communication with the sensor system.

Generating and/or encoding rotational data for a mechanical element over a digital network

Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to identify and configure sensors are disclosed. Certain examples provide an apparatus including a processor and a communication interface. The example processor is configured to broadcast, using the communication interface, a request for sensor identification in a detection mode. The example processor is configured to receive, using the communication interface, sensor identification information. The example processor is configured to instruct, based on the sensor identification information, sensors to enter a monitoring mode to await a stimulus. The example processor is configured to receive, in response to a first stimulus applied to a first location, a first sensor response to the first stimulus from a first sensor. The example processor is configured to evaluate the first sensor response with respect to an expected sensor response. The example processor is configured to when the first sensor response satisfies a criterion, associate the first sensor with the first location.

Methods and systems to identify smart sensor locations by the application of physical stimulus

Systems and methods for determining aircraft component phase position are provided. In one embodiment, a method can include receiving a set of data from a data acquisition system associated with a component. The method can include identifying a plurality of phase reference points based, at least in part, on the set of data. Each phase reference point can be indicative of a phase position of the component relative to the data acquisition system at a respective point in time. The method can include generating a model based, at least in part, on the plurality of phase reference points. The model can be indicative of the phase position of the component relative to the data acquisition system at a plurality of times. The method can include determining the phase position of the component at one or more points in time based, at least in part, on the model.

Aircraft component monitoring system

Systems and methods for providing time reference synchronization for an aircraft are provided. In one embodiment, a method can include receiving, by one or more computing devices associated with a data acquisition system of an aircraft, a signal comprising time synchronization information, wherein the signal comprises a first signal portion and a second signal portion. The method can include filtering, by the one or more computing devices, the signal comprising the time synchronization information to distinguish the first signal portion and the second signal portion from noise associated with the signal. The method can include determining, by the one or more computing devices, the time synchronization information based at least in part on the first signal portion and the second signal portion. The method can include synchronizing, by the one or more computing devices, a set of data acquired by the data acquisition system with the time synchronization information.

Aircraft time synchronization system

A method of component monitoring for machinery having multiple rotating elements, which are rotated at different rotational speeds, the method including sampling data from the vibration sensor at a sampling frequency at least as great as the fastest rotational speed of the multiple rotating elements to form a data set and determining an actual rotational frequency for at least some of the rotating elements during the sampling of the data.

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Southampton, United Kingdom

Timothy Robert North