MD7-Pro Digital SHM System

In-service monitoring techniques utilize a dense web of analog sensors connected by individual wires routed to centralized data acquisition and processing units. This traditional approach carries a significant weight penalty, can be complex to instrument and is susceptible to EMI. To address these issues, MDC has developed a fully digital SHM solution. The MD7-Pro system is composed of 3 core elements: an Accumulation Node for remote data concentration and diagnostic processing, an Acquisition Node for distributed signal digitization, and analog sensor bases that mate with both types of nodes. Each element of the MD7-Pro system is networked on a 10-wire serial bus that carries command, data download, node synchronization and power. Benefits of this distributed infrastructure approach include higher fidelity data through digitizing sensor signals at the point of measurement, reduced computational burden through local signal processing and feature reduction, and overall minimal mass through the consolidation of cables and elimination of bulky centralized hardware. The MD7-Pro System has been flight tested on fixed-wing aircraft, rotorcraft and spacecraft.