NASA has awarded Boeing a contract worth up to $2.1 million to design, implement and demonstrate an aircraft health evaluation system that will monitor in real-time propulsion, flight control, airframe and software systems to identify an "adverse event".
After detecting an anomaly, the vehicle level reasoning system (VLRS) will then diagnose the cause, predict the effect on the remaining useful life of the vehicle and take appropriate steps to mitigate the event, according to the contract award published 17 December.
Included in the adverse effects the system is meant to identify and correct are "system, subsystem or component faults or failures due to damage, degradation or environmental hazards such as turbulence, electromagnetic fields and lightning", says NASA.
The system will potentially help to cut maintenance costs by providing information that will allow more maintenance items to be inspected or replaced "on-condition" as opposed to by flight hours.
"VLRS technologies will produce a significant amount of data that can be used to enable condition-based maintenance (CBM) for aircraft," the agency notes. "With CBM, maintenance actions are performed only when there is an anticipated need, as opposed to regularly scheduled maintenance."
NASA says deliverables under the contract, which includes a $600,000 initial contract plus two one-year options valued at $1.5 million, must be adaptable to legacy and next generation civil and military aircraft, and must include a business case and architectural trade studies.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
