Australian company Remote Vision Solutions (RVS) is hoping to win sales of its fuselage damage assessment system after endorsement of the new technology by Boeing.
Melbourne-based RVS developed its InspectCam Laser Measurement System in close co-operation with Qantas after the airline asked the company to design and manufacture a device to inspect and measure fuselage damage. The surface deformation measurement system (SDMS) is now in use by the Australian national carrier, plus Southwest Airlines in the USA and Goodrich Aviation, while Boeing has recently ordered a system. The company is talking to around 50 parties interested in using the system, while Airbus is testing the SDMS, says Ken McQualter, managing director of RVS.
The SDMS, which is not aircraft type-specific, “dynamically identifies, measures and records fuselage skin scribe line marks, hail damage, lightning strikes, gouges and dents, as well as windshield and window scratches”, says McQualter.
The system will operate on most surfaces, including aluminium, glass, acrylic and composites, and can be used in areas otherwise hard to access.
It comprises a visual device for monitoring and capturing images, measurement software and a laser measurement tool, and costs in the region of A$40,000-50,000 ($31,00-39,000)
The system reduces the costs of inspection regimes, says McQualter, adding that it can detect, measure and record images of scribe marks on a Boeing 737 in 6-8h compared with 70-80h using other inspection methods.
Boeing has described the system as “special tooling necessary for the inspection and measurement of fuselage skin damage”, says RVS.
EMMA KELLY/PERTH
Source: Flight International
