Design and Realization of an Electronic Pitot Cover That Will Not Be Forgotten Before the Take-Off

Abstract

In this study, an electronic cover system was designed and produced that will prevent forgetting before take-off at aircraft. Proposed system, which has a very simple but effective structure, basically consists of microcontrollers, wireless communication modules, and switches. This prototype system has two components, the pitot component and the cockpit component. If the pitot component is attached to the pitot tube, the system starts working when the cockpit component is active. In the designed system, both components communicate with each other wirelessly. As a result of this communication, both components flash the powerful light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on them at certain intervals (by making a flash effect). When the power LEDs are blinking, it means that the cover is attached to the pitot tube. In this way, both the marshalling officers and the pilot are warned that the cover is attached to the pitot tube, preventing a possible accident.

Keywords

• Pitot tube
• cover
• take-off
• crash
• pilot warning system

Thanks

The authors would like to thank Dear Dr. Mustafa KISA (Pilot), Dear Namık Kemal YALCIN, and Dear Kubilay TOKLU for their contributions.

References

1. Anonymous, 2017. Aircraft pressure measuring instruments, available at: https://www.aircraftsystemstech.com/2017/06/pressure-measuring-instruments.html (accessed 10 February 2023)
2. ATSB, 2022a. Airspeed indication failure on take-off involving Airbus A330, 9M-MTK, available at: https://www.atsb.gov.au/sites/default/files/media/5780947/ao-2018-053-final.pdf (accessed 02 March 2023)
3. ATSB, 2022b. Flight preparation event involving Airbus A350-941, 9V-SHH, available at: https://www.atsb.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-11/ao-2022-032-preliminary.pdf (accessed 02 March 2023)
4. CAE, 2014. ATPL Ground Training Series. Instrumentation 1 edn.: CAE Oxford Aviation Academy, p. 18.
5. Cho, A., Kang, Y.-S., Park, B.-J., Yoo, C.-S. and Koo, S.-O., 2012. Air data system calibration using GPS velocity information, 12th International Conference on Control, Automation and Systems, Jeju Island, Korea (South), IEEE, pp. 433-436.
6. Diniz, S.B. and Pacheco, C.C., 2023. Real-time estimation of the heat transfer coefficient of pitot tubes undergoing freezing, International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, 33(1), pp. 226-240.
7. Dobrowolski, B., Kabaciński, M. and Pospolita, J., 2005. A mathematical model of the self-averaging Pitot tube: A mathematical model of a flow sensor', Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, 16(4), pp. 251-265.
8. Golparvar, A. and Yapici, M.K., 2020. Analysis of pitot tube airflow velocity sensor behavior in blockage situations, IEEE Sensors, Rotterdam, Netherlands, IEEE, pp. 1-3.

9. Hagiwara, T., Takahashi, H., Nguyen, T.-V., Takahata, T. and Shimoyama, I., 2019. Underwater pitot tube for swimming animals, IEEE 32nd International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), Seoul, Korea (South), IEEE, pp. 95-98.
10. Hall, J., 1996. National transportation safety board safety recommendation, available at: https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/recletters/A96_15_20.pdf (accessed: 02 March 2023)
11. Imai, S., Klockowski, R. and Varela, C.A., 2013. Self-healing spatio-temporal data streams using error signatures, IEEE 16th International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering, Sydney, NSW, Australia, IEEE, pp. 957-964.
12. Kishimoto, T., Saito, R., Tanaka, H. and Takahashi, H., 2021a. Compact pitot-static-tube-based waterflow sensor for biologging of marine animals, IEEE Sensors, Sydney, Australia, IEEE, pp. 1-4.
13. Kishimoto, T., Saito, R., Tanaka, H. and Takahashi, H., 2021b. Pitot-static-tube-based waterflow sensor for marine biologging via inside sealing of an incompressible liquid, IEEE Sensors Journal, 21(18), pp. 19806-19814.
14. Klopfenstein Jr, R., 1998. Air velocity and flow measurement using a pitot tube, ISA Transactions, 37(4), pp. 257-263.
15. Li, X., Wang, S., Xie, D. and Yang, K., 2014. Analysis of upstream installation effects on the discharge coefficients of averaging pitot tubes using CFD, Proceeding of the 11th World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation, Shenyang, IEEE, pp. 3523-3528.
16. Ortiz, V.M., 1996. Reporte final accidente aereo birgenair, Vuelo ALW-301, 06 Febrero 1996, available at: http://www.fss.aero/accident-reports/dvdfiles/DO/1996-02-06-DO.pdf (accessed: 02 March 2023).
17. Pechout, M., Jindra, P., Hart, J. and Vojtisek-Lom, M., 2022. Regulated and unregulated emissions and exhaust flow measurement of four in-use high performance motorcycles, Atmospheric Environment: X, 14(100170), pp. 1-11.
18. Ribeiro, L., Saotome, O., d'Amore, R. and Hansen, R. d. O., 2022. High-speed and high-temperature calorimetric solid-state thermal mass flow sensor for aerospace application: A sensitivity analysis, Sensors, 22(9), pp. 1-19.
19. Sun, K. and Gebre-Egziabher, D., 2020. A fault detection and isolation design for a dual pitot tube air data system, IEEE/ION Position, Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS), Portland, OR, USA, IEEE, pp. 62-72.
20. Sun, Z., Li, Z. and Zheng, J.,2009. Influence of improper installation on measurement performance of Pitot tube, International Conference on Industrial Mechatronics and Automation, Chengdu, IEEE, pp. 53-56.
21. Tabanlı, H. and Yüceil, K. B., 2021. Wind tunnel tests for a pitot-static probe designed to measure aircraft speed and altitude at subsonic compressible and transonic regimes, Journal of Aeronautics and Space Technologies, 14(2), pp. 145-153.
22. Takahashi, H. and Shimoyama, I., 2018. Waterproof pitot tube with high sensitive differential pressure sensor and nano-hole array, IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), Belfast, UK, IEEE, pp. 214-217.
23. Zhong, Z., Guo, J., Zuo, H. and Xu, J., 2020. A method of identifying pitot tube cover based on color histogram features and SVM, 11th International Conference on Prognostics and System Health Management (PHM-2020 Jinan), Jinan, China, IEEE, pp. 34-39.