Modern aircraft generate a vast amount of data and advanced data analytics techniques are becoming very effective at extrapolating meaningful insights and trends to predict unscheduled events and maintenance requirements, says Gary Vickers, CEO, Aerogility.
Operational simulations then predict the optimal way to respond to this data. By reproducing fleet and maintenance and engineering operations in software, you can predict the impact of different maintenance strategies, policies, and schedules, and optimize the most effective course of action, in advance of it happening
Following are what a few companies are offering in the world of predictive maintenance solutions.
Aerogility Simulations
Aerogility is a cloud-based enterprise-level simulation system for aerospace and defense organizations. It utilizes a multi-agent aerospace model, which is configured to a customer’s specific aircraft fleet or assets and includes the whole maintenance and engineering operation and supply chain.
“Aerogility helps to accurately forecast workloads and precisely model the best time to schedule maintenance,” Vickers says. “In other words, it is capable of knowing when the most cost-effective and business-conscious time is to schedule in the required service, upgrade, or modification whilst having minimal impact on the rest of the fleet.”
Aerogility’s intelligent ‘what-if?’ analysis and detailed business simulations help companies make more informed business-critical decisions, delivering higher availability, lower costs, and safer operations.
Predictive maintenance planning resolves all the complex competing factors to make smarter, lower risk, and more cost-effective decisions about how best to manage your assets, and truly understand fleet needs, Vickers says. The Aerogility software reduces planning cycles from weeks to hours, meaning a fleet planning and management team can achieve more results in less time.
Aerogility is used by both OEMs for aircraft and engines, as well as airline operators.
“The immediate benefit of using Aerogility is productivity and flexibility,” Vickers says. “A team can set up and run a simulation in a few mouse clicks, and automatically generate multiple versions of schedules or detailed analytics, rather than weeks of laborious work creating spreadsheets or using more traditional tools. This means that the team can quickly develop sophisticated maintenance and engineering strategies and plans, comparing key performance indicators and other success criteria.
“By using Aerogility, companies can achieve a more optimized fleet, with more aircraft flying and more seats to sell — and less downtime because of planning inefficiencies,” Vickers says.
As an example, Aerogility successfully deployed a fleet maintenance planning platform with leading European low-cost carrier, easyJet. Since introducing the system, Vickers says, easyJet has not only been able to improve the company’s aircraft utilization but also to increase the cost efficiency of the carrier’s maintenance activities. “Aerogility gives the airline a platform to perform extensive whole-aircraft MRO forecasting; a key benefit which is proving useful to both the maintenance planning and power plant departments,” Vickers says.
To implement Aerogility, the customer needs to set up two types of data, standing and dynamic. The standing data describes and defines the customer existing operation, and this doesn’t change very often. The dynamic data is the latest operational status of the fleet. On a regular basis, Aerogility’s data importer system updates certain parameters in the agent model, for example, the flying hours and cycles on an aircraft, and the last maintenance performed. This means that when they run a simulation they are projecting forward from the latest status baseline.
What-If Scenarios
There are many examples of what-if scenarios that Aerogility can handle because it offers a holistic approach rather than a point solution for a specific problem.
For example, what-if 1: What is the optimal schedule to maintain planning yield and nose-to-tail throughput in all the MRO facilities, completing all the required maintenance done outside the summer busy period?
What-if 2: What is the best strategy for handling the entry-into-service and end-of-lease conditions, and transitioning from one maintenance strategy to another for different aircraft as they age?
“Without a doubt, predictive maintenance systems are fundamental to the future success of commercial and military aviation,” Vickers says. “For civil aviation it can mean costly delays and increased customer dissatisfaction; in defense, it can lead to diminished force readiness and compromised mission effectiveness, neither of which is acceptable.
“Fleet managers and planners are tasked continually with resolving future uncertainty and high dynamic workloads, in a very complex and safety critical business,” Vickers says. “The more they can understand this complexity and can predict future workload and the impact of their decisions, the more effective they will be in ensuring that the aircraft are available when they are needed and at a cost that is acceptable in a highly competitive industry.
“We believe it is of critical importance to further enhance our rich optimization capabilities and leverage recent developments in big data analytics, machine-learning and AI as this is where the industry is heading in the future,” Vickers continues. “Our multi-agent technology has its roots in AI and autonomous systems, and we are confident that our architecture is an effective conduit for making use of these new technologies.”
Collins Aerospace
"Last year, Collins launched Ascentia™, which is our advanced prognostics and health management (PHM) solution that utilizes powerful visualization tools to provide customized, predictive, and actionable information that enables airlines to make strategic service decisions," says Shiv Trisal, associate director, digital strategy and aftermarket solutions and aftermarket services at Collins Aerospace.
Ascentia uses three core data analysis methods to improve dispatch reliability for operators: physics-based modeling, statistical analysis and machine learning.
The Ascentia solution is hardware and fleet-type agnostic. The focus of Collins offerings is airframe and systems health management.
"The value proposition to operators is an improvement in dispatch reliability, reduction in unplanned maintenance, and optimization of maintenance schedule for high-impact aircraft systems," Trisal says. "Early adopters of our solution and support services have seen a ~ 30 percent reduction in delays and cancellations and ~20 percent reduction in unscheduled maintenance."
Collins’ predictive models were able to identify specific deterioration on a 787 cabin air compressor outlet check valve and notified the operator with a proactive maintenance recommendation. The operator was able to take pre-emptive steps to avoid an operational interruption using Collins support and the valve condition was confirmed upon inspection.
Previously, in the absence of this predictive insight, the operator would have to deal with a costly event in which the passengers would experience odor in the cabin and the airline would incur a flight delay, cancellation, or a diversion, Trisal says. Ascentia health monitoring is currently being used to prioritize retrofit of the CAC check valves across the customer fleet. By continuing to monitor both the generations of the valves, Collins can also ensure the fix effectiveness of the retrofitted solution.
The Ascentia solution is capable of aggregating large and disparate data sets. The key aircraft data elements required for the solution are full-flight or QAR data, Aircraft Condition Monitoring System (ACMS) reports, and aircraft messages. We work with the operators to setup the right tools and mechanism for effective data transfer.
How Much Data?
With respect to amount of data, there is a significant variance on how much data is available on today’s fleets.
"New generation aircraft such as the 787 and A350 have significantly more enhanced data acquisition and transmission capabilities and can make ~ 700 – 1,000 MB of analyzable data per flight," Trisal says.
"Legacy aircraft such as A320, 777, and 737 produce ~ 100 to 300 MB of analyzable data per flight," he continues. "However, this can be significantly enhanced with the addition of new sensors and enhanced data acquisition and transmission solutions to unlock aircraft data. Another Collins Aerospace offering in this space is InteliSight™, which is installed on over 1,000 aircraft that are capturing data from the aircraft avionics buses and making it available for various use cases in airline operations."
Impact on Airline Operations
"As Collins Aerospace, we have the differentiated capabilities to harness aircraft data (sense, acquire, transmit, and analyze) and drive intelligence in airline operations,: Trisal says.
"Our asset intelligence models analyze data from existing on-wing sensors and in some cases supplemental connectivity solutions such as the InteliSight hardware and sensors to deliver improved operational reliability for airlines."
IATA estimates the global cost of airline irregular operations (delays, cancellations, in-flight turn backs, etc.) is $28B. These events are costly and drive much inefficiency across the airline’s operation, and also negatively impact passenger experience.
"Airlines are looking at how they can get ahead of these issues through better maintenance practices and more operational efficiencies," Trisal says. "Airlines are becoming more demanding of their suppliers to provide solutions that proactively reduce their total cost of ownership, deliver effective analytics solutions and associated operational support (parts, troubleshooting guidance,etc.). The economic advantages and efficiency improvements derived from predictive maintenance is going to drive more developments in the future."
Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions
Curtiss-Wright is a supplier of flight test instrumentation (FTI) hardware. Today, the company is actively increasing its presence as a provider of solutions for post-test operational use, with a focus on predictive maintenance (PM), health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS), and data monitoring products. For well over 20 years, it has fielded usage monitoring solutions that provide data acquisition for aircraft monitoring and sustainment, with many proven implementations in both civil and military applications.
“Our low-NRE solutions are based on open architecture commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) designs,” John Wranovics, Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions, says. “This approach is significantly more flexible when compared to custom solutions from vendors of traditional aircraft condition maintenance systems (ACMS). Unlike custom-designed solutions whose design is “locked in” during the aircraft’s initial design phase, Curtiss-Wright’s data acquisition solutions enable OEMs, operators, and system integrators to easily adapt their instrumentation after the initial configuration of the aircraft. This augments the aircraft’s ability to collect critical condition data and helps drive maintenance decisions that increase safety, operational availability, and lower costs.”
Curtiss-Wright’s proven standard products are modular, which makes them ideal for rapid prototyping, enabling rapid development. And its modular approach greatly reduces the cost, effort, and time required to add new functionality.
The Growing Demand
While modern day aircraft are data rich, there are many critical parts of the aircraft that are not instrumented, resulting in an equipment performance information vacuum. As a consequence, equipment failure, with very costly implications, can occur with little or no notice. Preventive maintenance enables those un-instrumented areas of the aircraft to be populated with sensors and data capture equipment. Predictive algorithms can be generated that provide early warning of equipment performance degradation. When performance degradation is identified early, proactive measures can be put in place to prevent costly failures. By measuring the system’s input and output temperatures and pressures, algorithms can be produced to identify early signs of potential failure that might otherwise result in a grounded aircraft
What’s driving interest in PM are increasing requirements to perform predictive analytics in order to increase safety, reduce maintenance costs, and optimize supply chain management.
The biggest challenge for implementing PM is providing access to the relevant data needed to perform any desired analytics. Onboard avionics systems are primarily designed to help fly the aircraft and not to gather test data. Additionally, many systems do not have the necessary sensors installed to provide data such as temperature, pressure, or vibration information. This can result in insufficient data available to support PM analytics.
Curtiss-Wright provides a range of solutions for accessing vital aircraft data. “With decades of FTI experience, we have developed one of the industry’s largest IP “lockers” for capturing aircraft data,” Wranovics says. “This IP includes rugged size, weight, and power (SWaP) optimized modular products that range from data acquisition (from sensors and data busses), conditioning, recording, transmission, processing, and display. Our data acquisition products provide a highly flexible solution for performing PM analytics, not only during flight test, but throughout the lifespan of the aircraft. Our PM solutions are ideal for addressing an aircraft’s post-production cost drivers. They enable the capture of data types that were not previously identified for capture during the aircraft’s original design either because they were overlooked or because the related issue only emerged post-production.”
A Modular, Open Architecture Approach
Curtiss-Wright offers four distinct solution types for deploying PM data acquisition capabilities on commercial and military aircraft.
Data Acquisition Systems (DAS): Able to fit into any location on an airframe, its versatile COTS solutions are easily configured from a full range of I/O modules: avionics bus monitors; sensor, video, and audio interfaces; and integrated solid-state recording.
Fortress Flight Data Recorder: Flight data recorders (FDR) solutions are part of the original installation on many aircraft, both fixed wing and rotorcraft. The data acquisition capabilities can be easily expanded to capture critical maintenance and diagnostics data. For example, because of their modular design, the compact Fortress units can be easily expanded to support HUMS capabilities to monitor the health of the aircraft’s avionics systems.
Production Fit Instrumentation Package: For military aircraft, it provides an internally installed alternative to costly data acquisition pods that are traditionally deployed externally on fighter jets. The cost-reducing benefits of the data collected are now driving installation on every aircraft in the fleet.
ACMS: For one aircraft manufacturer, it was able to develop and deliver a COTS-based ACMS system. The use of the modular DAS provided the customer with greater flexibility, a prototype for testing within weeks, rather than many months, and a system that could be rapidly reconfigured at significantly lower cost as new requirements emerge.
Platform Examples
Curtiss-Wright is currently deployed on over 25 HUMS programs. Examples include: AgustaWestland AW-101, Boeing E-3D Sentry, Boeing F/A-18A Hornet, Lockheed HC-130H, Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, Northrop T-38 Talon, and Shorts Tucano.
Honeywell’s GoDirect
Honeywell’s GoDirect platform offers connectivity to provide aircraft and maintenance data for optimum performance.
“We’re really focused on bringing together our various software platforms into one platform that could be deployed to airlines that has the ability to provide analytics and intelligence to our airline customers across a wide range of applications, including fight efficiency and maintenance,” says Josh Melin, product line director, Connected Maintenance, GoDirect, Honeywell. “But now we have the ability to expand beyond that because we’re combining the data from GoDirect Flight Efficiency and GoDirect Connected Maintenance and creating a much more versatile analytics and business intelligence software platform.”
Honeywell brings the power of analytics to the airline industry, which means it can do conventional use cases in flight efficiency, which would include fuel efficiency and flight optimization as well as in the maintenance world, which is about reducing delays, cancellations, and maintenance costs, as well as being able to do more cross domain analytics.
“I’ll give one example,” Melin says. “Take braking, for instance, trying to slow down the aircraft on landing. There are a couple of ways to slow down an aircraft. You could apply more brakes or you could apply more thrust reverser. Applying more brakes can cause faster brake wear. Applying more thrust reverser can burn more fuel. And if you apply the brakes too fast and for too long, it can cause a high heat dynamic where you then have to wait a while to let it cool down and then you can have trouble turning the aircraft in time.
“In the past we would have been trying to optimize both those things independently. When we bring them together and create a powerful analytics platform, we allow these kinds of use cases for the airlines to optimize what is the best overall solution. When I’m the CEO of the airline, what saves me the most money? What is the most profitable outcome for me? That’s what we’re trying to do.
“You can start to imagine hundreds of use cases like that, that when you create a powerful analytics platform, you can deliver on those use cases across the entire airline or across multiple department silos within the airline. One of the things with the power of data and analytics is you can start to break down those silos and optimize across entire organizations.”
Expanding Breadth and Depth
Honeywell is also developing analytics, specifically predictive and prescriptive analytics, on aircraft platforms and really expanding its offering. “What I mean by that is,” Melin says, “the breadth is we’re covering a large number of ATA chapters on five aircraft platforms in the ATR market, which we believe is unrivaled in the connected maintenance market.
“The depth of our offering is that we really believe that our ability to predict and prescribe maintenance actions is unparalleled,” Melin says. “We have as low as a 2 percent no-fault-found rate on the systems that we can predict. We can drive around a 30 percent delay and cancellation reduction. Today, we’re providing this offering with zero additional retrofit needed on the aircraft. So it’s a software only offering. We use 100 percent existing data coming off the aircraft. And not only that, we’re also prescribing what maintenance action is recommended, which means simpler action from our customers. They don’t have to try to guess what needs to be replaced.
“That’s our starting point. So that means an airline just has to set up data feeds to us so that we can begin doing analytics on the data and it’s quick. It means that within weeks we can begin adding value to that customer.”
Honeywell sees an opportunity to deliver products that are connected that have the ability to capture data and then move that data off the aircraft. “We’re also coming up with ways to do it in the retrofit market as well. Where there are some systems on the aircraft that are data poor today like on legacy aircraft, we are working on STCs right now to retrofit hardware in order to collect data and then do our analytics on it, all delivered again through this analytics platform.
“We’ve seen a lot of excitement from customers because the ability to predict a failure before it occurs is something that’s kind of been the Holy Grail in maintenance analytics for the last 10 plus years. It’s been talked about and I feel like Honeywell’s finally at the point that we’re delivering on that value proposition.
“Frankly, there’s a lot of skepticism before we deliver those results because it’s something that’s been talked about in the industry for 10 plus years. A lot of people have seen attempts at this before with unfulfilled promises. When you go to meet with the customer, they’re like, ‘If you can deliver on that, that would be really impressive.’ And we say, ‘Hey, give us a chance, give us a chance to try it out.’ And we’ve been able to demonstrate it.”
Another benefit that Honeywell provides is that it has an entire ecosystem of connectivity. Melin says, “We’ve got an entire suite of connectivity devices and enablers, from satcom hardware and airtime services, to edge nodes, to gateways and routers, that let us architect a complete solution to solve our customers’ problems. What that means is if there is data being collected on the aircraft and we need to get it off, we have a solution for that. If there’s missing data, meaning there’s no sensors, we have a solution for that too. That’s the power of Honeywell, that’s the Power of Connected.”
