ULTRASONIC DATA INTERCHANGE STANDARD (UDIS)

MOST OF THE ULTRASONIC SCANNING SYSTEMS IN SERVICE OR BEING INSTALLED AT DOD FACILITIES OFFER SOME MEANS OF RECORDING INSPECTION DATA. HOWEVER, THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS CAPABILITY AREN'T BEING FULLY REALIZED BECAUSE THE STORAGE MEDIA AND DATA ARCHIVAL FORMATS DIFFER FROM SYSTEM TO SYSTEM. THIS LACK OF STANDARDIZATION IS CAUSING A PROBLEM THAT IS BECOMING WIDESPREAD AS MORE AND MORE DOD FACILITIES INCREASE THEIR USE OF ULTRASONIC SCANNING TECHNOLOGY. SIGMA PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AN ULTRASONIC DATA INTERCHANGE STANDARD (UDIS) THAT WILL PERMIT NAVAL AIR REWORK FACILITIES (NARFS) TO EXCHANGE ULTRASONIC INSPECTION DATA IN THE FORM OF C-SCAN IMAGE FILES. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY WOULD BE TO DEVELOP HARDWARE (STORAGE MEDIUM) AND INFORMATION EXCHANGE (DATA FORMAT) SPECIFICATIONS REQUIRED TO RETROFIT EXISTING EQUIPMENT AND STANDARDIZE FUTURE SYSTEMS. SIGMA HAS SUPPLIED SOME OF THE NAVY'S NEWEST, MOST ADVANCED ULTRASONIC SCANNING SYSTEMS. ON THIS BASIS, WE FEEL QUALIFIED TO DEFINE APPROPRIATE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE SPECIFICATIONS AND DEVELOP THE UDIS. OUR APPROACH WOULD BE FIRST TO SURVEY THE NARFS THAT OPERATE ULTRASONIC INSPECTION EQUIPMENT AND THEN TO VISIT THE MAJOR SCANNER MANUFACTURERS AND DISCUSS THEIR DATA ARCHIVAL PROCEDURES. AFTER COMPILING THIS INFORMATION, THE UDIS WOULD BE DEVELOPED.