Computer assisted maintenance of the Fire Scout UAV Helicopter with ADIRT (Augmented Digital Imaging and Recognition Technology)

NAVAIR has costly assets requiring expensive maintenance, burdening the limited number of trained maintainers. With the USMC, RMD developed a prototype computerized simulated assistant for maintenance, training and planning based on augmented reality (AR) and cognitive augmentation (CA). Based on that work, RMD and its collaborators propose to develop ADIRT (Augmented Digital Imaging and Recognition Technology) to greatly expand the computerized assistant to support the maintenance of the Fire Scout UAV to complement the familiar, existing workflows and SOPs. Maintenance of the scroll cage fan in the Fire Scout requires alignment and indexing of difficult to see components. Misalignment can result imbalanced engine parts and cause serious damage. ADIRT will automatically recognize and track personnel and components in the maintenance environment using a COTS computer, high definition camera, and pico projector to automatically identify the maintainer, assist with documentation, fetch schematics and pertinent information, and project visual cues and verbal prompts directly into the work area while creating an overlay of information on a computer monitor. ADIRT will be able to index components during maintenance with a degree of precision far exceeding that possible with the human eye. RMD will work with closely with NAVAIR to ensure success of ADIRT.