Multi-Dimensional Damage Detection

• US 20120318925A1
• Filed: 06/13/2012
• Published: 12/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United States Of America As Represented By The Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space Administration
• Original Assignee: Space Administration, The Government of The US As Represented By The Secretary of The Navy
• Inventors: Gibson, Tracy L., Williams, Martha K., Lewis, Mark E., Roberson, Luke B., Snyder, Sarah J., Medelius, Pedro J., Parks, Steven L.
• Granted Patent: US 9,233,765 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 244/158.3
• CPC Class Codes: B64G 1/2227 Inflating
• CPC Class Codes: B64G 1/52 Protection, safety or emergency devices; Survival aids
• CPC Class Codes: B64G 1/56 Protection against meteoroids or space debris
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/20 Investigating the presence of flaws
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/08 Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time

Abstract

Methods and systems may provide for a structure having a plurality of interconnected panels, wherein each panel has a plurality of detection layers separated from one another by one or more non-detection layers. The plurality of detection layers may form a grid of conductive traces. Additionally, a monitor may be coupled to each grid of conductive traces, wherein the monitor is configured to detect damage to the plurality of interconnected panels in response to an electrical property change with respect to one or more of the conductive traces. In one example, the structure is part of an inflatable space platform such as a spacecraft or habitat.

Claims

1. A method of fabricating an inflatable space platform comprising:

providing a plurality of panels as an exterior structure of the inflatable space platform, wherein each panel has a plurality of detection layers separated from one another by one or more non-detection layers, each detection layer includes a substrate and a plurality of conductive traces coupled to the substrate, conductive traces of successive detection layers are substantially perpendicular to one another, and the plurality of detection layers form a grid of conductive traces;

interconnecting the plurality of panels;

configuring a monitor to

selectively deactivate one or more of the plurality of detection layers or sensing lines based on a depth detection parameter,

detect damage to the plurality of panels in response to an electrical property change with respect to one or more of the conductive traces, and

generate one or more of a diagnostic output and a prognostic output based on the electrical property change; and

coupling the monitor to the plurality of panels.

2. The method of claim 1, further including arranging the grids to have a non-uniform resolution.

3. The method of claim 1, further including coupling a circuit substrate to an outside layer of each panel.

4. The method of claim 3, further including:

disposing a plurality of inside conductive pads and a plurality of outside conductive pads on the circuit substrate adjacent to a perimeter of each panel; and

electrically connecting the plurality of inside conductive pads and the plurality of outside conductive pads to a grid of conductive traces corresponding to each panel.

5. The method of claim 1, further including configuring each detection layer to have a plurality of known defect traces, wherein each panel has a trace continuity signature that is defined by the known defect traces of the detection layers in the panel.

6. A system comprising:

a platform structure including a plurality of interconnected panels, wherein each panel has a plurality of detection layers separated from one another by one or more non-detection layers, and wherein the plurality of detection layers form a grid of conductive traces; and

a monitor coupled to each grid of conductive traces, wherein the monitor is configured to detect damage to the plurality of interconnected panels in response to an electrical property change with respect to one or more of the conductive traces.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein each detection layer includes a substrate and a plurality of conductive traces coupled to the substrate.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein conductive traces of successive detection layers are substantially perpendicular to one another.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the grids have a non-uniform resolution.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the monitor is configured to selectively deactivate one or more of the plurality of detection layers or sensing lines based on a depth detection parameter.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the monitor is configured to generate one or more of a diagnostic output and a prognostic output based on the electrical property change.

12. The system of claim 6, further including a circuit substrate coupled to an outside layer of each panel.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the circuit substrate includes a plurality of inside conductive pads and a plurality of outside conductive pads disposed adjacent to a perimeter of each panel, and wherein the plurality of inside conductive pads and the plurality of outside conductive pads are electrically connected to a grid of conductive traces corresponding to each panel.

14. The system of claim 6, wherein each detection layer includes a plurality of known defect traces, and wherein each panel has a trace continuity signature that is defined by the known defect traces of the detection layers in the panel.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a panel including a plurality of detection layers separated from one another by one or more non-detection layers, wherein the plurality of detection layers form a grid of conductive traces; and

a monitor coupled to the grid of conductive traces, wherein the monitor is configured to detect damage to the panel in response to an electrical property change with respect to one or more of the conductive traces.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein each detection layer includes a substrate and a plurality of conductive traces coupled to the substrate.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein conductive traces of successive detection layers are substantially perpendicular to one another.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the grid has a non-uniform resolution.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the monitor is configured to selectively deactivate one or more of the plurality of detection layers or sensing lines based on a depth detection parameter.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the monitor is configured to generate one or more of a diagnostic output and a prognostic output based on the electrical property change.

21. The apparatus of claim 15, further including a circuit substrate coupled to an outside layer of the panel.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the circuit substrate includes a plurality of inside conductive pads and a plurality of outside conductive pads disposed adjacent to a perimeter of the panel, and wherein the plurality of inside conductive pads and the plurality of outside conductive pads are electrically connected to the grid.

23. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein each detection layer includes one or more known defect traces, and wherein the panel has a trace continuity signature that is defined by the known defect traces of the detection layers in the panel.

24. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the monitoring system uses one or more script files to facilitate detection of the damage.

25. The apparatus of claim 15, further including a compression ring that biases the panel against the circuit board.

26. A method comprising:

transmitting a test signal to a plurality of interconnected panels, wherein each panel has a plurality of detection layers that form a grid of conductive traces; and

identifying one or more damage zones in the plurality of interconnected panels based on a response of the grid of conductive traces to the test signal and trace continuity signature information associated with the plurality of interconnected panels.

27. The method of claim 26, further including using the response of the grid of conductive traces and the trace continuity signature information to identify a panel corresponding to each damage zone.

28. The method of claim 27, further including:

generating a damaged trace identifier for each damaged trace in the grid of conductive traces, wherein the damaged trace identifier includes a corresponding panel identifier; and

storing each damaged trace identifier to non-volatile memory.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein identifying the one or more damage zones includes:

sorting a plurality of damaged trace identifiers to obtain a set of sorted identifiers;

grouping the set of sorted identifiers to obtain a set of grouped identifiers;

identifying one or more damaged detection layers based on the set of grouped identifiers;

normalizing the set of grouped identifiers;

determining a damaged trace identifier-to-trace identifier spacing for the set of grouped identifiers; and

determining one or more damage zone sizes based on the damaged trace identifier-to-trace identifier spacing.

30. The method of claim 29, further including modifying at least one of the one or more damage zone sizes based on the trace continuity signature information.

31. The method of claim 26, further including resolving a defect analysis state based on the one or more zones.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the defect analysis state includes one of a top layer only damage state, a top two layer damage state, a top three layer damage state, and a four layer damage state.

33. The method of claim 31, further including forming one or more coordinate pairs based on the defect analysis state and the response of the grid of conductive traces.

34. The method of claim 33, further including populating a damage attributes cluster array with the one or more coordinate pairs.

35. The method of claim 26, further including using the trace continuity signature information to distinguish between a plurality of damage zones.

36. The method of claim 26, wherein the trace continuity signature information identifies a plurality of known defect traces in the grid of conductive traces.

37. The method of claim 26, wherein the test signal includes a binary pattern.

38. A computer readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions which, if executed by a processor, cause a computer to:

transmit a test signal to a plurality of interconnected panels, wherein each panel has a plurality of detection layers that form a grid of conductive traces; and

identifying one or more damage zones in the plurality of interconnected panels based on a response of the grid of conductive traces to the test signal and trace continuity signature information associated with the plurality of interconnected panels.

39. The medium of claim 38, wherein the instructions, if executed, cause a computer to use the response of the grid of conductive traces and the trace continuity signature information to identify a panel corresponding to each damage zone.

40. The medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions, if executed, cause a computer to:

generate a damaged trace identifier for each damaged trace in the grid of conductive traces, wherein the damaged trace identifier is to include a corresponding panel identifier; and

store each damaged trace identifier to non-volatile memory.

41. The medium of claim 38, wherein the instructions, if executed, cause a computer to:

sort a plurality of damage trace identifiers to obtain a set of sorted identifiers;

group the set of sorted identifiers to obtain a set of grouped identifiers;

identify one or more damaged detection layers based on the set of grouped identifiers;

normalize the set of grouped identifiers;

determine a damaged trace identifier-to-trace identifier spacing for the set of grouped identifiers; and

determine one or more damage zone sizes based on the damaged trace identifier-to-trace identifier spacing.

42. The medium of claim 41, wherein the instructions, if executed, cause a computer to modify at least one of the one or more damage zone sizes based on the trace continuity signature information.

43. The medium of claim 38, wherein the instructions, if executed, cause a computer to resolve a defect analysis state based on the one or more zones.

44. The medium of claim 43, wherein the defect analysis state is to include one of a top layer only damage state, a top two layer damage state, a top three layer damage state, and a four layer damage state.

45. The medium of claim 43, wherein the instructions, if executed, cause a computer to form one or more coordinate pairs based on the defect analysis state and the response of the grid of conductive traces.

46. The medium of claim 45, wherein the instructions, if executed, cause a computer to populate a damage attributes cluster array with the one or more coordinate pairs.

47. The medium of claim 38, wherein the instructions, if executed, cause a computer to use the trace continuity signature information to distinguish between a plurality of damage zones.

48. The medium of claim 38, wherein the trace continuity signature information is to identify a plurality of known defect traces in the grid of conductive traces.

49. The medium of claim 38, wherein the test signal is to include a binary pattern.