To properly track usage of a system and understand its current and future condition and performance requires sensors placed in the right locations – which are often small and difficult to access. IEM has mastered the design of both miniature wired and wireless sensors for use in applications ranging from train to aircraft monitoring. IEM has designed a network of intelligent wireless self-powered sensors for monitoring key aspects of railroad operation, including car behavior and condition – sway, impact, vibrations indicating wheel or bogie issues – cargo condition and security, and so on, with the ability to communicate to a central node on the train or a remote facility of some kind. For the Navy, IEM designed vibration and strain measurement systems, including unique strain gauges, which would measure impact, vibration, and buffet load on key components of combat aircraft, and also created ultra-thin sensor strips to be placed inside of PAD/CAD devices to monitor the condition of the fuel stabilizer present in these systems.
IEM has also designed a patented thin-strip pressure sensor for determining overwing pressure profiles; it can also incorporate vibration/impact behavior and may add other sensing modalities as needed. This could support active airfoil surface technology as well as flight test results.