System to Monitor IR Radiation of LED Aircraft Warning Lights

Abstract

Aircraft warning lights are a crucial element for flight safety. Currently, LEDs are used for aircraft warning lights (obstacle lights). Unfortunately, lights realized with this technology are not clearly visible to pilots using night vision goggles. To solve this drawback, infrared LEDs are added to the visible ones. Unluckily, the failure of the IR LED is not detectable visually. Therefore, the optoelectronic systems are fundamental to monitor the correct operation of these LEDs. In this paper, we will describe a system to check the correct light emission by the IR LEDs and to activate an alarm in case of incorrect operation.