3D Measurement for Aircraft Maintenance and Part Remanufacture

Those responsible for maintaining the operational status of the aircraft of the United States Air Force face many difficult challenges in completing their mission. With an ever aging, and yet, ever more valuable inventory of older aircraft, the maintenance depots assigned their upkeep and readiness continually work to maximize flight time and minimize costs. As a result, many are looking to technology-based solutions to improve their inspection and overhaul processes with tools for nondestructive testing and virtual parts modeling. To address these process enhancements, Photon-X proposes a non-contact, 3-D measurement solution utilizing its passive, single-camera technology producing high-resolution surface map output of imaged objects. This 3-D imagery is then used directly for inspection/measurement applications or output as CAD/CAM files for part-design modification and manufacturing. This technology requires no special illumination, is fast in data collection/processing, is optics-independent (offering various fields of view), is small and easily transported, is very cost-effective and has been proven to be a low risk in Phase I, with potential high payoff for Air Force. During Phase II, a complete prototype system will be designed, developed, tested, and delivered to the Air Force. Extensive tests are planned for the instrument at appropriate AF facilities.