Coherent Technologies compares specialized laser sensor designs with COSMOS

Company Coherent Technologies Industry Machinery Location U.S.A Product Used COSMOSDesignSTAR™ Type of Analysis Thermal, Dynamic Analysis, Stress More Details

The Challenge
Because laser based remote sensing system - also called lidar - work reliably to measure wind velocities without requiring moisture in the air (unlike radar) it has found a great many applications in meteorology, commercial and military aircraft, airports, weaponry, detection of chemicals and biological agents, forestry fire services - and many others. Coherent Technologies, Inc. (CTI), Louisville, CO, designs and manufactures such laser based sensors, and finds its markets constantly growing as more and more potential users learn about the capabilities and reliability of the technology.

CTI designs every one of its products for a specific purpose. "There's no such thing as a typical sensor," Browning says. "One of the simpler sensors we've designed has over 50 parts in five or six sub-assemblies, in a system that measures 3 in. by 3 in. by 6 inches. More complex sensors have several hundreds of parts, and may be quite large, needing to be placed on a 6 ft. by 4 ft. or bigger table.

The Solution
Browning chose COSMOSDesignSTAR for analysis because, he says, "its powerful mesher makes it possible to do multiple trade studies of temperatures quickly." The results from a series of such studies goes back to the designer, who can make changes based on the analysis information, and then send the changed design back for more analysis runs. "The speed of the very robust mesher makes it possible for me to provide information on several possible configurations in a single day. Designs go back and forth until the laser physicists are sure they have the best design for the particular purpose."

"Use of COSMOSDesignSTAR eliminates a good deal of trial and error iterations," Browning says. "That's important because this company is growing very quickly. We have no 'steady state' - everything is transient because of the large number of projects coming in - and I'm very busy using COSMOSDesignSTAR. It has become an integral part of our design process."

Summary and Metrics:

• Performed multiple thermal studies quickly.
• Eliminated trial and error iterations.
• Compared several different design configurations in a single day.