Date of Award

Spring 2000

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Program/Concentration

Computer Engineering

Committee Director

John W. Stoughton

Committee Member

James F. Leathrum, Jr.

Committee Member

Linda L. Vahala

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.E55 N68

Abstract

Pressure measurements on wind tunnel models provide an important aid to overall aerodynamic analysis and design of aircraft and vehicles. Most pressure measurements in wind tunnels are made using analog pressure sensors with interfacing electronics that connect to an external data acquisition unit. Some of desirable features of an improved pressure measurement system are that it be: 1) model embeddable, 2) inherently digital in nature, 3) intelligent, and 4) controllable by a remote computer.

An intelligent, model-embedded, eight-channel digital pressure sensor system has been developed and tested in a wind tunnel. The implemented system consists of Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) digital pressure sensors that are controlled by a small, Embedded Programmable Logic Device (EPLD)-based electronics module. This module outputs standard RS-232 signals that can be easily read and interpreted by a remote host computer.

This system has been tested in the 16 foot Transonic Tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center with a wireless and hard-wire data transfer system. This implementation requires minimal set-up time and provides a small, reconfigurable and fully self-contained digital pressure measurement system. The sensors, electronics, and host configuration/control PC have performed according to the design specifications in the severe conditions of wind tunnel testing.

Details of the digital pressure sensor system and results of the tunnel and laboratory tests are presented in this thesis.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/ttkq-ap37

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