Determination of elastic mode characteristics using wirelessly networked sensors for nanosat launch vehicle control

This paper presents a simulation study of the realtime determination of the elastic mode characteristics (frequency and displacement mode shape) of a launch vehicle using an array of sensors that measure the local strain along the length of the vehicle. The determination of the frequency and shape of the excited modes is accomplished using the buffered strain data. We assume that the sensed data is obtained from a wirelessly networked array of sensors that brings in additional complexity due to the presence of delays, packet loss and network dynamics. Preliminary results show a high sensitivity of the mode-shape determination algorithm to delays in sensed information.