Sensors

Welcome to the Sensors section for Aerospace, your comprehensive source for the latest advancements in aerospace sensor technology. Discover how cutting-edge sensors are enhancing flight safety, performance, and automation in the aerospace industry. Stay informed with expert insights, detailed articles, and the latest news on sensor innovations and applications that are transforming aviation and space exploration. Join us as we explore the critical role of sensors in driving the future of aerospace engineering.

Latest Stories

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Design

DARPA’s HOTS Program to Develop Sensor Microelectronics for Extreme Temperatures

Modern technologies are laden with sensors – a now-customary fact of life in much of the world. On smart watches and phones, and in cars and homes, sensors...

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Weapons Systems

Air Force Performs First Test of Microwave Counter Drone Weapon THOR

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) conducted a demonstration on April 5, 2023, of its high-power microwave counter drone weapon, the Tactical High-power Operational...

Application Briefs

Sensors/Data Acquisition

Handheld Targeting System

The U.S. Marine Corps awarded Northrop Grumman the initial production and operations contract for the Next Generation Handheld Targeting System (NGHTS).

Briefs

Aerospace

Electro-Optic Materials Research

Here, a summary of the main lines of effort for the Electro-Optics Materials Research program including its goals and major accomplishments of the past five years.

Briefs

Photonics/Optics

Overcoming Performance Limitations of Distributed Brillouin Fiber Laser Sensors

Distributed fiber sensors are a powerful tool for structural health monitoring and environmental sensing due to their ability to remotely monitor the strain at 1,000s of locations using low-cost optical fiber.

Briefs

Test & Measurement

Drift Improvement with Reinforcement Training of Inertial Sensors

The main objective of the DIRT-I project is to extend the holdover time of inertial sensors in the absence of a Global Navigation Satellite System.

Briefs

RF & Microwave Electronics

Stepped-Frequency Distributed Radar for Through-the-Wall Sensing

The authors are studying the application of distributed radar to through-the-wall sensing.

Briefs

Sensors/Data Acquisition

Multi-Scale Structuring of the Polar Ionosphere

Ionospheric variability is a critical consideration for communication systems, GNSS, and space asset management.

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Motion Control

Navy to Start Using Autonomous Cold Spray Metallization Technology for H-1 Helicopter Maintenance

Following years of rigorous testing and evaluation, a cold spray metallization technology that was initially demonstrated at Fleet Readiness...

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Data Acquisition

Army Integrated Sensor Architecture Modernization Effort Continues

Developers and engineers at the Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S) Integration Directorate have been modernizing the US...

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Software

Tailoring the Optoelectronic Properties of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides for Sensing and Electronics

A team of Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, researchers partnered with Pennsylvania State University to publish an article in the...

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Weapons Systems

Boeing to Develop Two New E-7 Variants for US Air Force

Boeing will begin development of two new U.S. variants of the E-7 Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft through a $1.2 billion "Undefinitized Contract Action."

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Aerospace

DARPA AI Algorithms Transition from Simulator to Flying Modified F-16

A joint Department of Defense team executed 12 flight tests in which artificial intelligence (AI) agents piloted the X-62A Variable Stability In-Flight Simulator Test...

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Data Acquisition

Navy Experiments With Flight Line of the Future Tagging Technology

The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) recently conducted flight line of the future experimentation with artificial intelligence and machine learning...

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Aerospace

MQ-1C Completes First Air-Launched Effect Flight Demonstration

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) flew a new survivable Air-Launched Effect (ALE) for the first time as part of a flight demonstration based out of the Dugway...

Application Briefs

Defense

Integrated Flight Deck

Sky Warden will become the first forward-fit deployable combat aircraft to feature Garmin's G3000 tandem integrated flight deck.

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Sensors/Data Acquisition

Northrop Grumman Developing Next Generation F-35 Radar Upgrade

Northrop Grumman is developing AN/APG-85, an advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar for the F-35 Lightning II. The radar will serve as an upgrade to the...

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Sensors/Data Acquisition

Ball Aerospace Starts Final Assembly of Space Force's Next Generation Operational Weather Satellite

Ball Aerospace completed the spacecraft bus for the Weather System Follow-on-Microwave (WSF-M) satellite, the U.S. Space Force's...

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Imaging

Airbus Starts Testing Autonomous Landing, Taxi Assistance on A350 DragonFly Demonstrator

Airbus UpNext, a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus, has started testing new, on ground and in-flight, pilot assistance technologies on an A350-1000...

News

Aerospace

Ensuring Aircraft Safety by Optimizing Ice Protection Systems

By Boris Marovic and Thierry Olbrechts, Siemens Digital Industries Software

News

Sensors/Data Acquisition

Machine Learning Software Monolith Cuts Development Time for BMW’s Test Engineers

BMW faced a problem. Because leg injuries can be common in vehicle crashes, the effect of all manner of deformation must be measured in order to predict,...

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RF & Microwave Electronics

Army Aviation Team Achieves Software Success in Live Fire Test

Less than one second. That was how long it took for an Apache helicopter in Europe to transmit a call for fire to ground forces while operating forward of the fire line. A...

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Sensors/Data Acquisition

Drone Wing Could Learn How to Sense Danger Faster

The oddly satisfying small domes that you press on your soda’s to-go cup lid may one day save a winged drone from a nosedive. Patterns of these invertible domes on a drone’s wings would...

News

Communications

Unzipping the Future of Sustainable Electronics

Electronic-systems designers are facing a serious reckoning: How to significantly reduce the environmental impact of more and more electronic content in new vehicles?

Briefs

Sensors/Data Acquisition

Oximeter Headband Initial Characterization Test on Form, Fit, and Function

The oximeter headband system consists of a custom-made, textile-based headband. It is a noninvasive, non-subcutaneous, and non-radiation-harming device that only maintains surface contact with the skin.

Briefs

Unmanned Systems

Optimal UAS Assignments and Trajectories for Persistent Surveillance and Data Collection from a Wireless Sensor Network

To meet the DoD’s vision for future UAS capabilities and lower manpower costs, systems incorporating UAS and standoff components are needed.

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Test & Measurement

Flight-Testing of New Airbus A321XLR Gathers Momentum

Following the maiden flight of A321XLR development aircraft MSN11000, two more prototypes, currently in advanced stages of manufacture, will join the certification flight-test campaign.

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Test & Measurement

Air Force Conducts Aircrew Chemical Weapon Protection Test

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th Human Performance Wing and the 28th Test and Evaluation Squadron recently executed an in-flight vapor purge test in a F-15E Strike Eagle....

News

AR/AI

SAE International Extends Call for Abstracts, Seeks Submissions for AeroTech Conference

Engineering Events staff at SAE International in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, have extended the call for abstracts through September 21 for the...