Augmented and Facilitated Nondestructive Inspection (NDI) for Large Area Assessments

Pervasive hidden corrosion on upper wing surfaces of larger US Air Force aircraft drives the need for better and faster non-destructive inspection (NDI) of large areas while the wing skin is in place. A recent DoD Cost of Corrosion report states that the estimated total annual cost of corrosion for Air Force airframe Maintenance Cost of Corrosion is $5.3B. The Top 10 aircraft total $3.2B in Corrosion Cost. The KC-135R, C-17A, C-130 have the highest total corrosion cost among USAF aviation assets. The KC-10A has the highest corrosion cost percentage of maintenance cost by a wide margin over other aircraft. Legacy conventional NDI methods by USAF and MROs are labor intensive/semi-automated and require excessive time to complete small areas. Leveraging the latest in proven NDI technologies, intuitive workflow apps, and a small, user friendly deployable, 3D machine vision guided industrial cobot, and mobile delivery approach, we will integrate a unique, modern, fully automated NDI solution to provide a robust, scanning solution that is scalable for multiple aircraft for initial/recurring inspections and PDM. System is highly supportive of LSE 2040 Attribute 4, Efficient Depot. Modeling our technical approach with conservative parameters, we collect high fidelity data and accelerate inspection time >20X.