Acoustic Cameras for Health Monitoring of Next-Generation Aircraft

Persimia proposes to develop a new type of acoustic-based health monitoring system for next-generation aircraft. The system will leverage microphone arrays throughout the aircraft to detect and pinpoint anomalies in the fuel system (for liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft) or electrical or propulsive components (in electric or fuel cell-powered aircraft). The two main components of the system will be the microphones themselves, and a machine learning algorithm that will process the data and identify anomalies. Importantly, the acoustic processing algorithm will leverage data not only from the microphone arrays, but also from the flight computer so that the acoustic background at different thrust settings and flight conditions can be accounted for. The project seeks to develop acoustic fault detection systems for aircraft that can be applied to electrically-driven, fuel cell-driven, and eventually liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft. By mounting microphones in appropriate locations, different components of the system can be monitored, and thus the same overall concepts of acoustic monitoring combined with filtering and anomaly detection can be applied to fault detection for an electric motor, and leak detection for a liquid hydrogen tank. The overall goal, therefore, is to develop acoustic fault detection technology for aircraft so that it can be widely applied as the industry evolves toward new types of sustainable fuel sources. Phase I funding will be used to develop microphone array designs for fault detection in both eVTOL aircraft and liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft. The team will also identify the structure of fault detection algorithms, create simple lab-based experimental case studies, and engage in initial customer outreach. The market for this technology could be aircraft OEMs, the military, NASA, and others interested in implementing fault detection on next-generation aircraft.

Electrified aircraft propulsion is of significant interest to NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. As mentioned in the SBIR solicitation, NASA also started the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project to enable technologies for megawatt-scale electric aircraft. As the industry transitions to fuel-cell and electric-powered aircraft, there is an urgent need to develop health monitoring technologies that can provide real-time, high-resolution information about component faults or anomalies. Such systems will be essential for eventual certification and safe operation. The proposed acoustic monitoring system may provide a means to monitor certain aircraft components, such as rotors and electric motors, that may be difficult to monitor by other means. At the same time, NASA is interested in advancing the state of the art in hydrogen-powered aircraft, as these vehicles are envisioned as essential to achieving a complete transition to sustainable aviation fuels by 2050. As with electric aircraft, the transition to liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft introduces new challenges as the vehicles integrate an entirely new type of fuel system. The complexity of storing and using cryogenic hydrogen fuel onboard an aircraft mandates health monitoring of many, if not all, system components to rapidly detect and diagnose potential faults. Monitoring large storage tanks and pipe assemblies for leaks is quite difficult. Acoustic cameras are an efficient way to monitor tanks and pipes which have been used in industrial settings for many years. The proposed project will seek develop aircraft-relevant designs for acoustic cameras, thereby facilitating NASA's goal of enabling a new generation of liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft. The technologies developed during this SBIR may lead to commercial products in several sectors. First, the technology may be commercialized as a system for aircraft health monitoring, both for electric- and fuel cell-powered aircraft and for liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft in the future. In addition, the acoustic camera technology developed during this project may lead to commercial products outside of passenger aircraft applications. An acoustic camera for UAVs may be developed that monitors the rotors and electric motors for beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) UAV missions, where onboard vehicle health monitoring will ensure that the vehicle lands safely, or at least steers itself to a safe location, in the event of unexpected failures. Such onboard health monitoring systems will become more important as the scope of BVLOS UAV applications increases over the next decade. Another commercial application of the technology is for UAV-based wildlife monitoring. The acoustic camera system may be used onboard a drone for wildlife detection, allowing biologists to detect the location of animals on the ground or in the air and track their movements. This idea has been demonstrated in a handful of targeted research studies but no commercial product exists for this purpose. The proposed system may also be used for military applications, specifically in the context of battlefield reconnaissance. An acoustic camera mounted to a small UAV would provide a unique tactical reconnaissance tool in military applications that allows troops to identify enemy firing positions and snipers through detection and localization of their sound emissions. The above applications are certainly not exhaustive, as there are numerous ways in which acoustic camera technology can provide value to a variety of industries. Persimia plans to leverage the acoustic camera technologies developed in this SBIR to create a variety of commercial offerings, including but not limited to the above examples.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.