Automated Tool for Reporting Aircraft Damage and Queuing and Screening Repair

The Navy requires the ability to quickly and accurately measure damage to composite structures. The advent of composite materials has provided improved capabilities for aircraft as well as a host of sea, ground-mobile, and other combat systems. However, while these new materials have significant benefits in terms of reduced weight, higher strength, lower signature, and improved armor performance, the ability to rapidly evaluate and repair damage of these materials requires new tools and methodologies. The historical means of measuring and repairing damage is inadequate for composite structures and components. Identifying the exact location and extent of damage is crucial for determining the type of repair that is suitable. In addition, manual data collection and transfer techniques are prone to the introduction of human errors that further complicate and slow-down the engineering analysis, disposition, and repair process. The proposed approach is to assemble current state-of-the-art data collection hardware with innovative and customized software to provide an integrated data collection and processing system.