Fiber Optic Sensing System

Patrick Chan demonstrates one way that the Fiber Optic Sensing System is used by bending a fiber with 

a 3D representation of the fiber’s shape as it bends. (NASA / Ken Ulbrich)

A Fiber Optic Sensing System (FOSS) 

developed for aeronautics research at 

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center 

in California has the potential to solve a 

number of technical challenges not only 

for the agency, but also for industries as 

diverse as medical, power, beverage and 

automotive.

In the past, collecting aerodynamic data 

from research aircraft and transmitting it 

required infrastructure including miles of 

wires, harnesses to keep those wires in place 

and bulky sensors that added weight and 

complexity to aircraft systems.

Armstrong researchers have been working 

on a simpler, lightweight solution for the 

system's electronics that were nearly table 

sized, but soon will fit in a container the size 

of a box of cookies.

FOSS has the potential to be game 

changing in the way flight instrumentation 

is envisioned. High-speed monitoring and 

sensing technology is enabled with efficient 

algorithms for use in determining strain, 

shape deformation, temperature, liquid level 

and operational loads – in real time.

FOSS uses up to a 40-foot, hair-like optical 

fiber that provides up to 2,000 data points. 

The system processes information every 

quarter inch along the fiber at rates up 

to 100 times per second, representing a 

sizable improvement compared to previous 

implementations of the technology. 

Flight research

It is this real-time processing capability that 

led to NASA’s incorporating FOSS on the 

unmanned X-56 Multi-Utility Technology 

Testbed aircraft. 
FS-2018-01-110 AFRC

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Armstrong Flight Research Center

P.O. Box 273

Edwards, California 93523

NASA Facts

The metallic panel has conventional and fiber optic sensors. 

The white bundle of cables contains 100 conventional strain 

gages, the single yellow cable about 350. Armstrong aircraft 

have been used in validation of fiber optic sensors. (NASA / 

Tony Landis) 

The X-56 is tasked with investigating flexible wings to 

improve safety, efficiency and ride quality. FOSS will 

enable researchers to see dynamic changes on the wings 

that could result in flutter by quickly collecting strain data.

The vision and ultimate goal for FOSS are that it will 

collect information on how aerodynamic forces affect 

an aircraft in real time and then feed that information 

directly into the aircraft’s control system for fuel 

efficiency, safety and create a more comfortable ride for 

passengers.

The future for FOSS

When FOSS and its complexity required for robust 

aircraft and spacecraft systems are simplified, it is 

anticipated that commercial interest will grow for the 

FOSS technology. Oil, gas, dairy and other industries 

have inquired about a simpler system that can help with 

a number of different applications. 

NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s 

Flight Demonstrations and Capabilities project and 

Transformative Tools and Technologies project have 

funded development work to advance the FOSS 

technology. 

FOSS is also being refined for launch vehicles, with a 

focus on monitoring liquid fuel levels, temperatures and 

strain on spacecraft.

Armstrong, NASA’s Langley Research Center in 

Virginia, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, 

NASA’s Johnson Space Center managed White Sands 

Test Facility in New Mexico and NASA’s Engineering 

and Safety Center in Virginia are partnering on 

composite overwrapped pressure vessels, or COPV, 

tanks from Space X. The tanks, which are instrumented 

with FOSS, are expected to be tested at NASA’s 

Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

The fiber optic system will be examined for effectiveness 

of the COPV. The FOSS would provide real-rime data on 

strain and temperature in the unforgiving environment 

of cryogenic liquids and extreme pressures. Information 

gathered from that research could improve models and 

the design of rocket COPV systems.

NASA's unmanned Ikhana aircraft was the first to fly with the 

fiber optic wing shape sensor. That team included, clockwise 

from left, Anthony "Nino" Piazza, Allen Parker, William Ko and 

Lance Richards. (NASA / Tom Tschida)