Autosport award for flowmeter

Gill Sensors has won the Autosport Engineering Best Technical Innovation 2012 and the Graham Jones Innovation of the Year Award, which were both presented during the Autosport International show in Birmingham (GB) in 13th January 2012. The prestigious awards go to the new Ultrasonic Fuel Flow Meter, which has recently been launched in Europe and America and marks a major step forward for fuel flow monitoring in race car applications.

“As focus within top level Motorsport moves towards fuel efficiency, accurate monitoring of fuel usage is rapidly becoming an essential element of most telemetry systems”, says Mike Rees, Head of Marketing at Gill Sensors. “The Gill Fuel Flow Meter has been designed specifically to address these requirements, providing governing bodies, race teams and engine developers alike with a means of accurately monitoring fuel flow and usage in real time”.

The Ultrasonic Fuel Flow Meter uses Gill’s proven ultrasonic measurement technology to detect bi-directional fuel flow rate to 0.3% accuracy in real time. This technology has a number of major advantages over impeller flow meters, the most significant of which is the removal of mechanical parts from the flow path. This ensures minimal pressure drop across the meter, providing true flow rate data with little impact on the flow itself. The removal of mechanical moving parts and bearings also eliminates mechanical damping and allows much higher temporal resolution and accuracy for the capture and measurement of high frequency pulsating flows.

The detail provided within the flow data allows engineers to fully analyse fuel flow characteristics, with the meter’s high level of sensitivity allowing even the pulses of individual fuel injectors to be identified at low RPM limits.

The Ultrasonic Fuel Flow Meter has been designed for use with all race fuels, including aggressive ethanol blends, and is capable of accurately recording flow rate from 0.5ml/min to 6500ml/min. With no moving parts to jam, break or wear out, the meter provides extremely reliable operation even in the harshest of operating environments.

The meter features a newly-developed electronic platform, which integrates the latest FPGA technology capable of measuring flow rate up to 4000 times a second. In addition to a digital output, a 0-5V analogue output is provided across the calibrated flow range.

The Gill Ultrasonic Fuel Flow Meter has undergone a series of dyno and car tests to date, including a day’s testing on a Core Autosport LMPC race car at Palm Beach International Raceway in December 2011. Another series of high profile car and dyno tests are scheduled in Europe and America throughout January and February 2012.

Fuel level in helicopter!

Custom angled fuel level sensor designed for autonomous helicopter

Gill Sensors has developed a custom fuel level sensor for an autonomous helicopter, featuring a unique angled probe to address the installation constraints of the fuel tank and surrounding components.

The sensor utilises the same proven electronic platform and capacitive measurement technique as other Gill custom level sensors, with an innovative mounting arrangement to allow the sensor to be mounted through the side wall of the fuel tank. With the sensing probe mounted at 60º to the mounting flange, the sensor monitors the full depth of the tank below the mounting point, giving flight engineers accurate, repeatable fuel level information in real time.

As with most airborne applications, achieving a minimal sensor mass was critical to ensure the payload capability of the aircraft was not compromised. The final design and construction is compact and lightweight, with the full sensor weighing just 80g.

The sensor features fully integrated electronics and will operate from a supply voltage of 12-32V. A configurable analogue 0-5V output is provided accurate to 0.25%. With a high level of accuracy and repeatability, the sensor output can be used with a data look-up table to monitor the volume of irregular shaped tanks accurately – typically not possible with other types of level sensing technology.

The completed sensors were designed, manufactured and delivered in just six weeks. This angled sensor is one of many unmanned systems fuel and oil level sensors developed by Gill recently, and is an excellent example of the wide ranging design options that can be used to address the unique installation requirements of manned and unmanned aircraft.

Level sensor platform in Formula 1!

New level sensor electronic platform homologated by FIA for use in 2011 Formula 1™ World Championship

The new micro-electronic platform, used within Gill’s new range of miniature liquid level sensors, has been formally homologated by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) for use in the 2011 Formula 1™ World Championship.

Gill’s standard electronic platform, which is still in use by most teams on the 2011 grid, has also been homologated.

The FIA stipulates, “All control sensors, actuators and FIA monitoring sensors will be specified and homologated by the FIA”. Gill liquid level sensors have been homologated each year since the rule was introduced in 2008 and are predominantly used for fuel level monitoring within the fuel cell and collector, and for oil level monitoring within the engine and transmission.

Unmanned liquid level sensors!

A new miniature range of liquid level sensors for unmanned systems

Gill Sensors has a new range of miniature fuel, oil and coolant level sensors, planned for launch at AUVSI Unmanned Systems North America 2010 (21/22 Sept 2010 - Denver COL US). The miniature sensors feature their new micro-electronics offering an approximate 50% space saving on the standard electronics and giving greater scope for use on smaller unmanned systems applications.

The new miniature sensors utilize advanced solid-state capacitive technology, with integrated electronics providing a fully configurable analogue output accurate to 0.25% of the tank depth. Each sensor is custom-designed to suit the specific application’s requirements to ensure optimum performance without the need to extensively modify existing system components. This makes the sensors equally suited to vehicle upgrades or for specification on new developments.

The sensors typically feature titanium and carbon-fiber constructions to ensure the mass of the sensor has minimal impact on the vehicle operation. Sensor length can be as little as 20mm, allowing for precision monitoring of small reservoirs.

Environmentally protected to IP68, these miniature sensors are suitable for full-submersion in aviation-grade fuel, oil or coolant and are rated for operation from -40ºC to +125ºC. Each sensor can be designed with integral connector or flying lead, designed to meet the most stringent military EMC requirements.

Data provided by the new miniature level sensors can be used to increase the performance and reliability of unmanned systems, offering engineers greater scope for tactical decisions based on reliable sensor data. Sensors currently supplied by Gill into UAV applications provide flight engineers with reliable data from which they can make informed decisions about the length of flight time, helping to optimize the efficiency of the mission.

As a supplier to some of the world’s leading UAV manufacturers, Gill Sensors has established itself as a leader in the field of liquid level measurement for unmanned systems.

Wind sensors technology on show

Gill Instruments Ltd, will exhibit their extensive product range at Windpower in Dallas, Texas on 23-26 May 2010. The product range on display will include the new MetPak II combined weather station as well as the popular WindSonic wind sensor, Extreme Weather WindObserver and WindMaster Pro ultrasonic anemometers with a live demonstration of the low-cost WindSonic wind sensor.

The new Gill MetPak II combined weather station is a compact and lightweight multi-sensor instrument that measures a wide range of weather parameters. Gill ultrasonic technology, as used in the proven WindSonic instrument, measures wind speed and direction. Temperature and humidity are measured using industry standard probes housed in a naturally aspirated radiation shield. Barometric pressure is measured within a vented enclosure. A serial data output is provided to interface to industry standard data loggers. Gill Instruments technical sales engineers will be on-hand at the Windpower International show to discuss the new developments in more detail.

The Gill WindSonic anemometer has become the benchmark for low-cost ultrasonic wind measurement technology, offering all of the benefits of this advanced measurement technique at an affordable price. The new variant of the WindSonic is due to incorporate further enhancements to allow use in a broader range of applications and environments.

Gill Instruments is a world leader in ultrasonic wind measurement technology, with the largest range of ultrasonic anemometers available in the market today.

Weather measurement at London show

Gill Instruments exhibited at Oceanology International 2010 marine science & technology exhibition in London’s Docklands (GB) in March 2010. Featured products on display were the New MetPak II Combined Weather Station as well as the WindSonic Wind Sensor, Extreme Weather WindObserver and WindMaster Pro Ultrasonic Anemometers.

The MetPak II is a compact and lightweight multi-sensor instrument that measures a wide range of weather parameters. Gill ultrasonic technology, as used in the proven WindSonic instrument, measures wind speed and direction. Temperature and humidity are measured using industry standard probes housed in a naturally aspirated radiation shield. Barometric pressure is measured within a vented enclosure. A serial data output is provided to interface to industry standard data loggers.