AIRCRAFT WIREMARKING IDENTIFICATION & NOTIFICATION (WIN) SYSTEM

General visual inspection, the current practice of aircraft wire maintenance, is almost entirely dependent on human decision making. An inspector reads/deciphers wire identification markings and sorts through voluminous printed documents to determinerelevant interconnection data. Intangible limitations such as operator skills and tangible issues such as limited access, poor lighting and random orientation of markings make the process highly subjective and fraught with risks to crew and aircraft.Materials Technologies and Spectrum Technologies propose the WIN System, a unique electro-optical technology comprised of three seamless steps: (a) acquire optical image of alphanumeric or barcode markings anywhere on the wire's 360-degree surface based onpatented NUVU technology; (b) process analog alphanumeric/barcode image to display wire identification marking on a personal computer screen; and (c) export its electronic equivalent to an electronic database for integrated electronic data management(IEDM). The WIN system can identify markings in-situ, non-intrusively, and nondestructively regardless of their orientation, insulation type, or method of marking. Displayed information includes interconnection data, tools required and wire history. TheWIN System will be handheld, portable and lightweight with character readability resolution of 10 to 50 microns, far in excess of the minimum character width of 250 microns. Five complete prototype units will be delivered to AF OC-ALC and validated in ashopfloor environment. Benefits: For aircraft business: Ability to read alphanumeric and barcode markings on the 360-degree surface enables inspection of wires as well as hydraulic fluid lines, fuel lines to be inspected without touching, disturbing or damaging the target.Also, operator fatigue will be minimized due to ergonomic comfort in performing the required inspection. For Non-aircraft businesses: Again, ability to read barcode in 360-degrees would have a HUGE impact at the consumer checkout lines in stores such asWal Mart, Home Depot, and grocery stores where shopper can check out 70-90% items even before arriving the cash registers. Hence shorter lines, and consequently higher incentive for the customer to shop at the store.Commercial Markets: Check-out registers for consumer markets such as mentioned above. This is a $1.7 billion annual market potential which dwarfs the limited markets for aircraft wire marking identification