FBGs are excellent strain sensors, because of its low size and multiplexing capability. Tens to hundred of sensors may be embedded into a s tructure, as it has already been demonstrated. Nevertheless, they only afford strain measurements at local points, so unless the damage affects the strain readings in a distinguishable manner, damage will go undetected. This paper show the experimental results obtained on the wing of a UAV, instrumented with 32 FBGs, before and after small damages were introduced. The PCA algorithm wa s able to distinguish the damage cases, even for small cracks. Principal Component Analysis (PCA ) is a technique of multivariable analysis to reduce a complex data set to a lower dimension and reveal some hidden patterns that underlie.

Peer Reviewed