You are here
AUTO-SCAN: Inlet and Exhaust Damage Registration Sensor
Title: Principal Scientist
Phone: (301) 294-4252
Email: dhandelman@i-a-i.com
Title: Director, Contracts and Proposals
Phone: (301) 294-5221
Email: mjames@i-a-i.com
ABSTRACT: Current methods for inspecting aircraft engine inlet and exhaust cavities are labor intensive and error prone. Airmen crawl into ducts looking for defects, trace suspected sites on Mylar sheets noting their position relative to cavity features, and manually enter the data into an aircraft assessment system. Technology that can reduce inspection times and eliminate sources of human error will benefit the Air Force by significantly increasing aircraft reliability and availability while reducing lifecycle maintenance costs. To address this critical need, Intelligent Automation, Inc. proposes to develop AUTO-SCAN, a damage registration sensor that will automatically detect, characterize and register defects in the aircraft coordinate system. The Phase I effort will demonstrate the feasibility of the AUTO-SCAN concept through the design, development and testing of a Phase I prototype. Phase II will develop the AUTO-SCAN system to TRL/MRL 7 maturity and integrate it with current aircraft health assessment systems. BENEFIT: The key advantage of the proposed sensor is to automate the process of defect detection and analysis to decrease inspection time, improve accuracy and eliminate sources of human error. This inspection technology will benefit the Air Force by significantly increasing aircraft reliability and availability while reducing lifecycle maintenance costs.
* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *