Luna Innovations Launches Upgraded Version of ODiSI Sensing Platform

Luna Innovations launched the latest distributed fiber optic sensing platform, which is 20 times faster and half the cost of its previous ODiSI (Optical Distributed Sensor Interrogator) instrument.

The ODiSI B model provides greater insight into the performance, tolerances and failure mechanisms of composite structures and vehicles. With thousands of sensing locations on a single optical fiber, the technology lets customers know what’s happening inside a composite structure during manufacturing and testing.

“One of our key growth strategies is to become the leading provider of sensing systems for testing composite materials,” said My Chung, CEO of Luna Innovations. “Last year we introduced our ODiSI platform to address this market. Based on customer feedback, we’ve developed an upgraded product that offers much faster measurement speed at half the price of our previous platform. Luna is committed to evolving our solution to respond to the needs of the composite market, particularly for new aircraft and wind turbines.”

The ODiSI B introduction comes as total demand for composites is growing; with global composite material shipments projected to reach $29.9 billion by 2017.

Luna’s ODiSI platform provides a number of advantages over traditional strain gages. It uses low-cost optical fiber to provide unprecedented sensor density, with hundreds of measurement locations per meter of fiber. The fiber is small, rugged and easy to install, while the glass structure of the fiber makes it ideal for fatigue testing under high strain as needed with composite materials. While a normal strain gage has one sensing point per channel and requires multiple connections per sensed location, Luna’s sensing solution provides thousands of measurement points per fiber with one connection for all of these sensors. Luna’s ODiSI B provides these benefits with a per-sensor cost well below that of traditional foil gages.

“Luna Innovations is improving the way composite materials are tested and validated for peak performance and safety, and customers are starting to embrace our technology,” Chung said.