Automated Laser Sensor System

This paper presents an automated laser sensor system developed for damage detection of an Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB) used by the US Army. The paper recounts the five-year effort aimed at developing a condition assessment system for AVLBs. A prototype automated laser sensor system built and tested by CFC-WVU consists of: 1) automated robotic gantry, 2) laser vibrometer, 3) data acquisition system, 4) excitation mechanism and 5) a master control program. The laser is mounted on the roving platform of the gantry, enabling it to scan structures upto dimensions of 76 ft by 18ft, the input signal for the excitation mechanism and the velocity output are generated and acquired using the master control program and data acquisition hardware. The sensor system is ideal for testing large structures such as full-scale aircraft wings, automotive panels, bridge decks, and AVLBs. The high spatial density provided by this system enables the use of the strain energy based damage detection algorithm. Proof-ofconcept tests were conducted on an AVLB using the automated laser sensor system and a strain energy damage detection algorithm. Test results and system description are presented in this paper.