Commercial in Confidence

Ian Davis (easyJet) Dr Yoge Patel (Blue Bear Systems)

Commercial in Confidence

Commercial in Confidence

Damage to commercial aircraft external structures ◦ Lightning ◦ Hailstorms ◦ Foreign object damage ◦ Operational damage (air bridge, supply vehicles etc)

Aircraft unavailable ½ day or longer

Requires inspection at base or remote locations ◦ Inspection involve use of gantry and staging ◦ On site engineer not always available ◦ Repair difficult away from a MRO facility

Commercial in Confidence

Lightning Strike Hail Stone

Inspection / Detection D

ifficulty

Commercial in Confidence

1. Faster inspection of possible damage 2. Faster assessment of the damage 3. Damage recognition and measurement 4. Change detection through life 5. Database management

Commercial in Confidence

Detecting the ‘small’ damage ◦ Accuracy <1mm resolution (missing rivets, dents, holes) ◦ Repeatability

Doing it safely ◦ Operating close enough to the aircraft ◦ People (passenger, aircrew, ramp staff) ◦ Aircraft (movements, engines running etc) ◦ Regulation

Doing it without a significant training burden ◦ Automated Operation ◦ Reduce Close/Direct Visual Inspections

Building confidence ◦ Can sensor based data replace ‘hands on’ engineering

inspection?

Commercial in Confidence

Commercial in Confidence

~ 70m

~ 50m

~ 20m

Geofencing (Soft Boundaries) ◦ In Hangar - Vicon ◦ Outdoor – GPS / Visual

Anti-Collision ◦ LIDAR/LASER ◦ Spatial awareness modelling

Commercial in Confidence

Minimise down time and loss of revenue

Reduce number of ‘spare’ aircraft ◦ Quick survey releases aircraft back to service with no

further work

Change detection ◦ Smart record of damage history ◦ Product improvement – feedback to AOC & OEM

Commercial in Confidence

Initial tests conducted using cabin trainer

Commercial in Confidence

In hangar tests with representative aircraft

Commercial in Confidence

Commercial in Confidence

X = 0 Y = 0 Z = 0

Commercial in Confidence

X = 0 Y = 500 Z = 0

Commercial in Confidence

Blue Bear ‘RISER’ RPAS ◦ Vicon cameras for initial Geofencing ◦ Automated operations ultimately

‘Smart Inspection’ ◦ EO/LIDAR fused solution ◦ Remembers previous inspections ◦ Collision Avoidance & Geofencing

Risk Managed Delivery