Smart Landing Gear: A FBG-Based Approach for Weight on Wheel

This study presents a fiber Bragg grating-based monitoring system designed to detect weight on wheel in aircraft landing gear. The system integrates a fiber Bragg grating sensor network capable of recording the structural response of a landing gear system under operational loads. Drop tests were conducted using a test article, a scaled integrated leaf spring landing gear, to measure strain variations during landings and take-offs on different soil types (hard soil, gravel, and sand) to validate the approach. Results demonstrate that the proposed system accurately detects ground contact and lift-off events, offering a reliable and lightweight alternative to traditional weight on wheel systems.