Airplane%20Speed%20Sensor

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Airplane Speed Sensor

• Fregis Effayong
• Rowan University
• Mechatronic

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How do they look like?
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Pitot tube

• Invented by a French Engineer (Henry Pitot) in
  1732
• A pitot is a pressure measurement instrument used
  to measure fluid flow velocity.
• Pitot was modified to it modern way form by
  another French scientist called Henry Darcy later
  in the mid 19th century.
• The air speed indicator measures the difference
  between a static sensor not in the air stream and
  a sensor (pitot tube) in the air stream.
• When the airplane is standing still, the pressure
  in each tube is equal and the air speed indicator
  shows zero.
• The rush of air in flight causes a pressure
  differential between the static tube and the
  pitot tube.
• The pressure differential makes the pointer on
  the air speed indicator move. An increase in
  forward speed raises the pressure at the end of
  the pitot tube.
• In airplanes, electronics also compensate for
  altitude and air temperature to make the air
  speed measurement accurate.

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How aircraft speed sensors work?
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Stagnation pressure static pressure dynamic
pressureNOTE That equation applies ONLY to
fluids that can be treated as incompressible.
Liquids are treated as incompressible under
almost all conditions. Gases under certain
conditions can be approximated as incompressible.
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The laser light velocity sensors have been
successfully tested in a high-speed wind tunnel

• Some Engineers from University of New South Wales
  (UNSW) have developed a low-cost laser that can
  accurately and speedily measure the velocity of
  commercial aircraft. Instead of having physical
  components located in the airflow, the new laser
  light system can be located in a
  temperature-controlled environment inside the
  plane, which will hopefully reduce the number of
  plane crashes.
• The currently used velocity sensors, known as
  Pitot tubes, are susceptible to icing over in bad
  weather and have been suggested as possible
  failure points for several fatal aircraft
  accidents.
• The most notable of these was Air France Flight
  447, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in
  2009 216 passengers and 12 crew members died.

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Conclusion

• Since the accident, Air France has replaced the
  pitots on its Airbus fleet with a newer model.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vJRnRKJRSI4I