Q for Jim Weir or others: solid state fuel level probes?

I've run into the same niche product kind of issue myself. I could
make a cool like PCB that does some function but how many people would
be interested? Not enough to pay for my time. I could do it for "fun"
but I do that kind of work 40+hrs week 5/6 days week.

Colored Fuel- Well I assume its all translucent, regardless of the
color. I designed a color sensor that shined different color LEDs on
the subject material and measured the amount of light that came back.
From that the uC could make a pretty good guess on what color it was
looking at. I suppose you could tell if someone put the wrong color
gas in your tanks.

Regards

Jim Weir wrote in message . ..
Charlie England
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-Jim or anyone else who has 'been there',
-
-Are circuit boards available for the capacitive fuel guages featured in
-the year2000 Kitplanes articles?

Unfortunately, no. For a couple of good reasons. One that I know you
understand is liability. While I have no good reason to believe that the design
is anything but triple-redundant safe, the Denver case outlines that anybody
whose name is anywhere on the airplane will get to explain to a particularly
picky black robe why their part of the airplane could not have possibly been
involved in the accident.

Two is that I get about one request every six months for a circuit board. That
makes it economically unfeasable to even do the layout, much less make a hundred
boards and have a 50 year supply sitting on the shelf.


-
-Or (more desirable to me) is there an easily fabricated optical sensor
-available for fuel level measurement?

Optical? Hmmm...with green fuel, blue fuel, red fuel, and clear fuel around
(and we all know there's no fuel like an old fuel) I'm not sure what sort of
optical system would be stable and sensitive enough to cover this range of
optical barriers.


-
-Other options???


I've been particularly intrigued with the possiblity of using the Polaroid
autofocus sonar setup but have never investigated it. THAT is damn near totally
failsafe.

Jim

Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com