Presentations:
Grande Ballroom A
Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) Measurement of Pressure Sensors with V-STARS Photogrammetry
Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) is a qualification that an aircraft, or group of aircrafts, must acquire from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in order to fly in airspace between FL290 (29,000 ft) and FL410 (41,000 ft). To be RVSM qualified, an aircraft must demonstrate that it can maintain a 1000 +/- 200 ft minimum vertical separation between it and another aircraft. The benefits of flying in RVSM airspace are that it allows aircrafts to fly optimum flight profiles, improves fuel burn, and increases airspace capacity.
Boeing maintains RVSM qualification through the continual monitoring of skin waviness around the static pressure ports of the aircraft. The static pressure ports are the critical sensors that help determine the pressure altitude of the aircraft. Skin waviness has a profound effect on the performance of the static pressure port and is known to be the single largest contributor to altimetry error.
V-STARS Photogrammetry is used to capture data around the Static Port locations. A single camera survey establishes the measurement boundary of approximately 3 square meters. A two-camera setup along with a Pro-Spot Projector is then used to fill in the contour boundary in the order of 200,000 points. Data is bundled within the V-STARS software. Feature alignments and reporting are then performed within Spatial Analyzer software. Contour deformation, on and around each static port and surrounding surface areas are precisely analyzed and reported, listing corresponding deviations. All data is provided to our Aerodynamics Engineering Team for statistical analysis.
