Patent — available for licensing
Self-Calibrating Virtual Sensor
A NASA invention available to explore as a licensing opportunity.
About this technology
Overview
Air flow measurement systems are widely used for flight instrumentation and aviation safety, yet their application to real-time aircraft operation presents unique challenges due to local flow field distortions, calibration complexities, and sensor positioning constraints. Achieving desired measurement accuracy, reliability across flight regimes, and environmental resilience is difficult within conventional aircraft sensor systems, as these parameters depend on sensor placement, calibration procedures, and proximity to aircraft structures. This restricts accessibility of critical flight data and increases instrumentation costs in general aviation and automated flight systems. Current approaches require expensive external hardware subject to flow distortions near fuselage and wings, creating calibration difficulties and reliability concerns that barrier widespread implementation of affordable, accurate systems essential for flight safety. To address these limitations, researchers at NASA Langley Research Center developed a self-calibrating virtual sensor. This solution applies to general aviation aircraft, UAVs, and experimental aircraft requiring cost-effective air flow measurement.