Airbus Demonstrates Drone-based Inspection System For Airlines, MROs

---

Airbus’s new automated inspection drone beside an Airbus A320. (Photo courtesy of Airbus.)

A traditional aircraft visual inspection performed inside a hangar from the ground or using a telescopic platform to do the job, including inspecting the aircraft’s upper regions, can take up to a day to complete, says leading global commercial aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The company, however, recently demonstrated a new automated drone-based maintenance system at the MRO Americas 2018 event in Orlando, Florida, that it claims can cut the time to about three hours. Notably, however, the system enhances the quality of such reports by improving the “damage localization, repeatability, and traceability” of the inspection checks, according to Airbus.

---

Airbus recently demonstration a new automated drone system that follows a predefined inspection path inside a hangar to capture images of the aircraft’s surface using an onboard camera. (Photo courtesy of Airbus.)

Q4 2018 Availability

Airbus says it has already demonstrated its system for several airlines, which have subsequently expressed interest in using it. Airbus plans to make the tool available in Q4 2018 after receiving approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency’s airworthiness authority to use the system as an alternative to the GVI (general visual inspection) process. Airbus also plans to make the system available to MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) organizations.

Airbus developed the drone-based system with assistance from its subsidiary Testia, a company specializing in “non-destructive testing.” The system includes a smart automatic drone equipped with an integrated visual camera, a laser-based obstacle detection sensor, flight planner software, and an aircraft-inspection software analysis tool from Airbus. The use of the laser-based sensor, which can detect obstacles and end an inspection if needed, means there is no need for a remote pilot to operate it.

---

A new automated drone inspection system, which Airbus recently demonstrated at the MRO Americas 2018 conference, will reduce visual aircraft check time by hours. (Photo courtesy of Airbus.)

“Hangar Of The Future”

Broadly, Airbus’s inspection drone platform is part of the “Hangar of the Future” initiative that the company says brings together innovation technology with smart IoT (internet of things)-connected equipment. Such equipment includes drones, collaborative robots (what Airbus terms “cobots”), and non-destructive sensors working with aircraft technical documentation, as well as aircraft in-service data that Airbus’ open data platform Skywise collects.

In a news release, Airbus says that through “the digitization and automation of maintenance activities” it is responding to the “increasing maintenance needs of airlines with growing fleets, creating value for all stakeholders.”

Overall, Airbus manufactures aircraft that fall into A320, A330, A350 XWB, and A380 product families. The company also operates an ACJ (Airbus Corporate Jets) family that includes the ACJ318, ACJ319neo, ACJ319, ACJ320neo, ACJ321neo, ACJ3330neo, ACJ340, ACJ350XWB, ACJ380, and ACJneo for sale.

If you’re in the market for pre-owned Airbus aircraft, Controller has numerous models for sale, including pre-owned ACJ319s, ACJ318s, A340s, and A330s. Controller also has numerous pre-owned Airbus H125 helicopters for sale.

Source: Airbus

Questions? Comments? Visit the Controller Forums to ask questions, get answers, and share your thoughts.