telemetry
DATA FUSION FOR THE NEXT
GENERATION STRUCTURAL
TEST ENVIRONMENT
Data Fusion is the process of integrating multiple data sources to produce more consistent,
accurate, and useful information than that provided by any individual data source
// CHRIS LLOYD
Traditionally, structural test facilities
have been using a Load Control
Systems (LCS) and Data Acquisition
Systems (DAS) which relies on foil type
gauges for load and stress measurements.
The DAS will often combine position and
displacement transducers like string pots
and LVDT’s. The integration between the
LCS and DAS has been mostly adequate for
this type of testing. In recent years though,
Structural Test Engineers have started to
utilize “new sensor” technologies like the
Sensuron Fiber Optic Strain (FOS) and
Correlated System Digital Image
Correlation (DIC).
Deploying all these systems into an
existing test facility has given test
engineers new tools, but fielding these
tools has led to a composite assembly of
hardware systems, data sets and dedicated
single-task software. At the test facility
level, these new capabilities come with a
need for more operators to set up and
monitor, as well as long processing times (if
at all possible) to align the various sources
of data before handing it over to analysts.
SOURCES AND SYNCRONIZATION
Data Fusion is the process of integrating
multiple data sources to produce more
consistent, accurate, and useful
information than that provided by any
individual data source. With its NetView
Data Fusion & Display software, Telspan
Data has assisted in the design and
implementation of a large-scale structural
test system based on an aerospace industry
open standard - IRIG 106 Chapter 10. CH10
covers all critical aspects of handling data:
synchronization of multiple sources,
recording and simultaneous distribution
for real-time display.
40 SHOWCASE 2020 \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
The prerequisite to Data Fusion is the
time synchronization of all data sources.
The sampled data must be stamped with a
precision time source that is shared by all
the other hardware systems. With many
COTS Grand Master Clocks available, PTP
(Precision Time Protocol), IRIG (Inter-
Range Instrumentation Group), NTP
(Network Time Protocol) is easily
distributed on the test network. Once the
1
1 // Data from different
systems becomes a single
stream w/ CH10 processing
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