small Unmanned Air System (suas)

Transcription

1 Timothy I. Morris, NH-III DAF Manager, 412 th Aircraft Unit (AMU) 912 AMXS/MXAC (AFMC) 412 th Group (661) DSN David E. Freeman, NH-III DAF Chief, Current Operations Emerging Technologies CTF 412 th Operations Group (OG) (661) DSN DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; Distribution Unlimited. 412TW-PA-17262

2 Problem Inspections of large frame aircraft upper surfaces are time consuming and expose maintainers to tripping hazards and falls. Existing methods using full body harnesses with lanyards are outmoded and indefensible because they: Create Tripping hazards Can be impeded by rain, wind, snow, or ice prohibiting personnel access to top of the wings, body, and tail sections of aircraft Increase Costs (Man-Hours, Labor, bench stock, lost man hours (due to accidents)) Follow archaic methodologies that are the antithesis of an Innovative AF

3 Solution Improvement Detail suas is a natural inspection application on wing, fuselage, tail, and outer edge of aircraft Technology easily leveraged by other functional activities i.e. Civil Engineering, Range Inspections, Emergency Mgmt. Edwards AFB 216 Miles of Roads 4.82 Million Sq. Yards of paved parking areas 2,500 Bldgs./facilities will minimize bi-annual expenditures on contracted digital optometric aerial survey costs

4 Benefits Reduces cycle time to perform inspections of upper surfaces by more than 50% High definition (4K), digital, distributable archive created for every airframe Inspections could be used to monitor airframe condition over time Provides enhanced capability to inspect areas not normally inspected, e.g. upper surfaces of horizontal stabilizers Provides a highly detailed view of vertical surfaces normally only scanned from the ground Practically eliminates maintainer fall risk exposure

5 Paid for by 412 th Test Wing funds System requires continued investment and development to improve capabilities suas operations are governed by AFI , Small Unmanned Aircraft System Training. Requires Command interest to advance much further Lower risk than current outdated methods is relatively small if operated within constraints s & Risks

6 Status The suas for other than intelligence gathering purposes by the USAF is in its infancy. Feasibility studies conducted in collaboration with the Emerging Technologies- Combined Test Force (CTF) is the first suas use for maintenance inspection on USAF large frame aircraft Other applications exercised thus far have been inspections of aircraft, buildings, roads, ATC Tower, and range facilities Use of suas in an active airfield environment is also new, and requires further development to define the operational environment and logistics tails

7 Vision / Final Thoughts With appropriate development, the potential for wider use has positive implications for speed, accuracy, and cost What further development is required? More capable platform (camera, lights, associated systems for video review) and associated logistics tail IR optics for night operations, obstacle/collision avoidance, wider field of view camera, all of which are readily available. Autonomous operation (canned flight profile for airframe type) Provides maintenance community with another tool to help protect it s most valuable asset the maintainer Estimated implementation costs - TBD Proof of Concept cost ~$1K; Service-wide System will be higher

8 Questions

9 Contacts Timothy Morris NH-03, 912 AMXS/MXAC Edwards AFB, CA (661) David E. Freeman NH-03, 412 OG/Emerging Technologies CTF Edwards AFB, CA (661) Christopher Nagel NH-03, 412 MXG/MXOPL Edwards AFB, CA (661) Major Danny G Riley II, 412 OG/Emerging Technologies CTF Edwards AFB, CA Danny.riley.1@us.af.mil ( DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; Distribution Unlimited. 412TW-PA-17262