1. A system for estimating strain of a component, said system comprising: a signal generator configured to transmit a signal toward the component; a sensor coupled to the component and configured to receive said signal and to generate a reflected signal; a fiber Bragg grating filter coupled to said sensor and configured to filter said reflected signal and to generate a filtered signal; a detector coupled to said filter and configured to convert said filtered signal to a time domain signal; a data acquisition unit coupled to said detector and configured to compile the time domain signal received from said detector by digitizing and integrating the time domain signal; and an artificial neural network coupled to said data acquisition unit and configured to process said compiled time domain signal to facilitate estimating the strain of the component, said artificial neural network configured to process said compiled time domain signal using a prognostics algorithm that predicts a future condition of the component.