Modernization
A4A/SAE NDT Innovation Award Honors Team for Camera-Based Tracker App That Improves Accuracy and Efficiency
September 18, 2024
WASHINGTON, September 18, 2024 — Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, and SAE International jointly presented the 20th Nondestructive Testing (NDT) Innovation Award at the A4A NDT Forum today. The award was presented to a joint team from Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia, that developed a camera-based NDT tracking app that reduced inspection times and improved accuracy and efficiency.
The team developed an innovative NDT Tracker tool integrating augmented reality that eliminated the need to manually draw ultrasonic (UT) grids. UT grid inspections are widely used by airlines and maintenance, repair and overhaul stations (MROs) to map corrosion and verify remaining thickness of blended areas.
Typically, 0.5″ or 0.25″ UT grids are drawn by hand on the inspection surface and involve two inspectors in close coordination to take readings. These methodical tests are notoriously time consuming.
The mobile, camera-based Tracker increased inspection speed for large grids by 20-30 percent, shortening the grid-inspection phase, which has led to accelerated turnaround time and increased maintenance throughput.
The Tracker is currently in active use at both Tinker and Robins Air Force Bases along with NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, located in California, and Antelope Valley College, in Lancaster, California.
Members of the 2024 NDT Innovation Award team include the following:
- Paul Davidson, NDI Engineering Level III, Robins Air Force Base
- Richard Duin, NDI Engineering Level III, Tinker Air Force Base
- Doug Haanpaa, Senior Software Engineer, Cybernet Systems Corporation
- Kevin Tang, Principal Investigator, Cybernet Systems Corporation
- Nick Wandro, OC-ALC NDI Program Manager 76th AMXG/MXDEN, Tinker Air Force Base
“A4A congratulates this year’s award recipients for developing the NDT Tracker, which has greatly reduced inspection times for gridding in the Air Force. By miniaturizing 3D localization technology originally developed by NASA, this application is poised to improve UT gridding for commercial NDT professionals and organizationsindustrywide,” said Robert Ireland, A4A Vice President for Safety, Maintenance and Engineering.
A4A’s NDT Forum is marking its 65th year at a four-day conference held in Nashville, where industry leaders are meeting to discuss current trends, issues and successes in NDT methodologies. The event features a number of presentations on achievements and lessons learned about technologies that help ensure the longevity and safety of aircraft structures by detecting defects well before they can be seen or cause a failure.
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