Advanced, Automated F-16 Exterior Inspection Using 5D Virtualization Technology to Enhance Air Force Readiness

The Air Force identified Rapid, Effective Decision-Making as one of five key strategic capabilities in its Science and Technology Strategy. To meet that strategic capability, the DAF has increasingly integrated advanced robotics and other next-generation conveyance platforms into its maintenance and sustainment processes. The DAF heavily relies on manual, human-eye-based inspections to detect exterior surface anomalies. Inspectors feel pressure from all sides. The increasing pace of deployments stresses airframes (especially aging platforms like the F-15 and F-16). Decreasing aircraft availability further amplifies problems. Additionally, the maintainer workforce is rapidly losing experienced personnel to retirement and reassignment. Each of these factors necessitates the DAF finding alternatives that can rapidly test and identify anomalies, support rapid repair, and increase operational readiness. Through this SBIR, Quidient proposes closing part of the current technological gap by examining the feasibility of using a lightweight 5D virtualization application to enhance operations like F-16 exterior surface inspections. Devices enabled with the application will transform COTS devices with Quidient’s advanced virtualization technology and physics-guided AI/ML to generate highly-accurate 5D models of various aircraft, parts, and/or other scenes. The DAF can leverage these Reality Models to save time and money, leading to improved maintenance, repair, sustainment, and operational readiness.