Originally Posted by
MurphyWasRight
One excellent use of the 'smart sensors' would be in combination with existing vane style.
This would greatly reduce chances of a common design/environmental fault affecting AoA values.
And it is not just AoA vanes that are a Common Mode Failure by design, the 3 (or 4) pitot tubes for measuring TAS are all same technology, all located near to one another. The purpose of AOA sensors is to detect an imminent stall; a more direct measure (possibly a second source for a plausibility check) would be a pressure sensor built in to the upper and lower wing surface. It need not use holes, if something as mundane as a mobile phone can distinguish between a tap and a swipe, there must be other new technologies out there that could be used.