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 increasingly 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, 3D measurement solution utilizing its passive, single-camera technology producing high-resolution surface map output of imaged objects. This 3D imagery is then used directly for inspection/measurement applications or output as CAD/CAM files for part-design modification and manufacturing. And, unlike current 3D imaging systems, this approach requires no special illumination, is fast in data collection/processing, is optics-independent (offering various fields of view), is small and easily transported, and is very cost-effective. During Phase I, a prototype system will be designed and demonstrated onsite, showing how the underlying technology will be ultimately used and offering a low-risk, rapid transition into a pre-production prototype to be delivered in Phase II.