The WindSceptor® OAV measures three-dimensional components of the air velocity relative to an aircraft in the aircraft reference frame. True Airspeed (TAS), True Angle of Attack (AoA), and True Angle of Sideslip (AoS) over the full flight envelope of rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft can be computed from these components.
The OAV Sensor measures real-time True Airspeed, True Angle of Attack, and True Angle of Sideslip through the entire flight envelope of drones, helicopters, and fixed-wing aircraft. Operating using the principle of Laser Doppler Velocimetry, this sensor provides:
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Accurate Low Speed Airspeed for helicopters and drones
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Improved Runway Performance
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Turbulence and Gust Load Alleviation
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Accurate Airspeed and Angle of Attack unaffected by ground effects
What WindSceptor® OAV Does
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Measurement of surface and atmospheric winds is best accomplished using a specific Laser Remote Sensing technique known as Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV).
Using this technique, laser pulses emitted from the sensor are reflected from microscopic particulates naturally entrained in the air. These particulates are comprised of microscopic desert sand, volcanic ash and cosmic dust that filters through the Earth’s atmosphere from space as well as other atmospheric scatterers. The effect of a laser scattering from these types of particulates can be observed by shining a laser pointer in the air at night or at any laser light show, it is in fact the only reason that the laser can be seen. Since the scatterers move with respect to
sensor (either the sensor moving through the air on an aircraft or
the wind moving past the ground based sensor), the color (wavelength) of the laser light that returns to the source is shifted slightly. This shift in color, known as a Doppler Shift, of the laser light is a measure of the speed at which the air is moving relative to the sensor. This Doppler Shift is measured by the sensor, giving a direct reading of the airspeed or wind speed. By measuring this shift in at least three non-collinear directions, a full three-dimensional picture of the aircraft movement through the air or the wind movement around the runway is created.
