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Donecle’s Aircraft Inspection Drone Generates Buzz

: Oct 14, 2018 - : 11:18 pm

An aircraft-inspection drone system that inspects aircraft at least ten times faster than current inspection methods has caught the attention of airlines and MROs around the world.

Donecle’s fully automated aircraft-inspection drone system, which has been developed in partnership with Air France Industries–KLM Engineering & Maintenance, detect defects on the aircraft skin in real time. “Our current product offering is focused on Airbus/Boeing narrowbodies but we are progressively adding capability for new aircraft types,” Josselin Bequet, Donecle CEO and Co-Founder, tells Arun Sivasankaran in an interview.

What is the primary use of Donecle’s drone?  Where are the inspections done?

The current system is primarily destined for general visual inspections of aircraft external surfaces. These inspections are typically conducted inside maintenance hangars during routine maintenance checks – current operators use them mostly for C-checks or overnight inspections.

What are some of the unique features of the drone? What is the technology at use here?

Donecle’s drone is fully automated and can navigate around an aircraft without input from a human pilot. We have developed a laser positioning technology which enables our UAV to automate its flight and accurately reposition on the aircraft all the data (images) it acquires.

The majority of the system’s appeal lies in the accompanying image analysis software which enables inspectors to rapidly produce damage reports. We have developed multiple computer vision tools and algorithms that analyze all the images acquired by the UAV to look for defects, markings, assess paint quality, etc.

From the start, we set out to make a product that was simple to use and consistent with airlines’ operational constraints. Our system is designed to require minimal training and provide inspectors the ability to acquire and analyze the health of their aircraft as quickly as possible to get it back in the air.

What are the advantages of using the drone?  How much of time and money does it save?

The main advantages of a drone inspection solution are threefold: decreasing the amount of resources (both personnel and equipment) to access upper surfaces of an aircraft), drastically improving inspection speeds and increasing overall traceability of inspection processes by consistently acquiring, storing and analyzing inspection data and images.

Our inspection system inspects an aircraft in under an hour representing an average tenfold gain compared to the time required with current inspection methods. Monetary savings vary across operators, depending on the aircraft they operate, how they conduct their maintenance (internally or outsourced), their business model (legacy or LCC), etc.

Can the drone be used to inspect both commercial and military aircraft? Does it work equally well on both narrowbody and wide body aircraft?

The underlying technology enables inspections of a wide variety of aircraft, although the majority of our current clients are commercial operators.

We have several ongoing military projects working on a variety of aircraft types. Basic inspection needs are the same, but operational constraints are very different from commercial operators and our work with the military is driving technical developments that will in return be applicable to commercial aircraft.

Until now, we have mostly concentrated on integrating narrowbody aircraft since they represent the bulk of the world aircraft fleet. Our current product offering is focused on Airbus/Boeing narrowbodies but we are progressively adding capability for new aircraft types. We have conducted tests on both Airbus and Boeing widebodies over the last 2 years, but we still have some work to reach the same level of maturity as on narrowbodies.

What makes your product stand out in the market?

Donecle’s solution offers an integrated package combining a robust UAV platform, automated navigation capabilities, image analysis algorithms and the ability to aggregate all that data on our secure cloud platform. We have not seen any other solutions out there providing that level of end-to-end integration.

More specifically, our system was built from the ground up for aircraft inspections, with a different mindset from companies which are trying to combine off-the-shelf hardware and software.

We designed our own UAV platform taking into account stringent safety requirements associated with flying in a demanding environment, around a multimillion dollar aircraft. In particular, we have included hardware redundancy feature, software fail-safes and obstacle detection capabilities.

Most off-the-shelf drones are either remotely piloted or semi-automated using GPS, which is unusable in a closed maintenance hangar. Similarly, drone automation technologies revolving around beacons, indoor GPS or requiring some form of calibration before each inspection are operationally impractical. We developed our laser positioning technology to ensure full automation (no UAV pilot), indoor/outdoor capabilities, a high-level of precision, and generally the ability to work out-of-the-box, with no calibration of any kind.

What is the level of interest that the company has seen for the product?

Consistently high, particularly over the last 6 months. Some players are already well into adopting new technologies and are known as early adopters. The majority of airlines and MROs contacting us now have heard of the technology as being used by some of those industry leaders, and also want to board the train. Most of these realize that they have to innovate and change the way they work to stay ahead of their peers in what is an increasingly competitive market.

How much of input did you have from the industry in developing the drone?

It would be unreasonable to develop such a complex solution without constant interaction with industry players. Our expertise lies in developing UAVs, positioning technology and computing algorithms but aircraft operators possess are a goldmine of knowledge. We have some privileged partners who have and continue to provide us with access to their infrastructure, personnel and resources to develop and improve our products.

From mechanics to senior management, airlines, MROs and OEMs, keep bringing us ideas for new applications or use cases. Our job is to develop the technology that meets their current needs while simultaneously bringing a new perspective on their core business and helping them reinvent how they inspect aircraft.

Inspection of aircraft by drones is fast becoming popular in the industry. How long will it take for it to become standard industry practice?

There is a clear demand from maintenance hangars for new tools to inspect aircraft faster, more efficiently and more reliably. However, decision-making processes are slower in adopting new technology and only the opinion leaders are willing to take risks and move away from the established standards. Regulations are also lagging behind in some regions and do not encourage implementation of groundbreaking technologies.

Can the capabilities of the drone be improved to cover other areas of aircraft inspection?

Visual inspection in itself is a wide-ranging term which covers anything from GVI (general visual inspections) to DVI (detailed visual inspections), pre-flight checks, paint quality, regulatory markings assessments, etc. indoors or outdoors, during scheduled/unscheduled maintenance events. Within that field, there is already a lot of room for us to play. Beyond that, we are starting to look at other types of inspections with a different UAV platform and using different sensors. Longer term, we see a lot of value emerging in applications that will leverage the data collected, stored and traced by our systems at each inspection.

Do you have customers spread out around the globe? Has the product generated interest in Asia and North America?

Yes, our current customers are essentially in Europe and North America, with further deployments planned in those regions over the coming months. We have received and continue to receive a lot of interest from around the world, with particular highlights for South-East Asia, Japan, and South America. We firmly believe in Asia as a growth driver for us – looking at delivery backlogs with the major aircraft manufacturers, there are going to be a lot of new aircraft to inspect in the region. There is also a sharp rise in Asian low-cost carriers, with strong incentives to reduce downtime and maintenance costs, which is precisely what we offer.

With digitalization, can we expect more products similar to yours in the market?

Yes, talking with both legacy players and other newcomers such as ourselves, there is a general trend in empowering aircraft maintenance technicians with new tools. There is a widely acknowledged shortage of maintenance technicians and engineers, and providing products that make more efficient use of their time is one solution to that issue.

Do you think there will come a time when inspection drones will replace human inspectors?

No, we believe drones or other automated inspection equipment are decision-aiding tools which complement human inspectors. We essentially remove the tedious, dangerous and lengthy component of the inspection process to enable human inspectors to focus on areas where they add value. Similarly, our image analysis software provides strong indications on what we think the drone has found on the aircraft, but in the short term, a human inspector’s experience is invaluable to confirm the software output.

What is the secret to success in an increasingly crowded market?

We do not see the market as being extremely crowded as far as our solution is concerned. There are a couple of other players trying similar things with UAVs but none which offer an integrated package. What makes our system valuable is not necessarily the UAV in itself but being able to provide a solution that goes from acquiring images to analyzing them while increasing the repeatability and traceability of the entire process.

Technology is continuously evolving and one of our commitments is to keep innovating to save ahead of the competition. We devote a significant portion of our resources to R&D and developing new products and tech to address new applications.

Are you working on any new product?

Yes, we are. We have a lot of applications and ongoing developments, looking at other kinds of inspections, new sensors, addressing other aircraft types or having a product that could be deployed outside maintenance hangars, closer to the boarding gate.

 

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