Air-Data
Air-data probes measure the direction and magnitude of the apparent wind over a vehicle immersed in the atmospheric environment. These probes can thus provide both the apparent speed of a vehicle as well as its spatial orientation. Air-data probes can be mounted on aircraft or ground vehicles to supply such information.
Air-data probes are essentially multi-hole probes equipped with extra ports to record the local static pressure. These ports are placed on a ring, the so-called static ring 8 to 10 probe diameters from the probe tip, and are all connected to a chamber in the main body of the probe. If the angle of incidence is below about 20 degrees, the average of the pressure recorded by the pressure ports along the static ring is very close to the ambient static pressure.
Aeroprobe specializes in constructing and calibrating laboratory probes, which are small and light. As a result, the Company found a niche in the market supplying miniature air-data probes for use on small UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). But the experience of the Aeroprobe team in designing, constructing and testing custom probes to meet the needs of its customers allowed the Company to supply specialized equipment for full-size aircraft or for rockets.
Aeroprobe products have been used by companies including In Situ, Makani Power, Aerovironment, Aurora, Aiolos Engineering,and government labs such as NASA. Examples of such use can be found by clicking on the icons to the right.
