said. “What we have done with IVHM is we have focused much more on a comprehensive list of systems that address the entire aircraft. We have really had to scale those capabilities way up an order of magnitude or two as we have expanded data collection to the whole aircraft.”
Collect. Connect. Detect. Direct. Baker pointed out that one of the major benefits to the new IVHM system is it not only collects loads of real-time data, it presents it in a way G650 operators can really use.
“People have been collecting data off
of aircraft for years. What they want is to know how to take action on what all the data tells them,” he said. “Those are the things that GE is very, very focused on right now with IVHM.” “We are dealing with very large data sets and we have applied some new technologies to rapidly extract very concise information and make it meaningful to the end-user,” Baker said. “We cut through the data quagmire and put together system-level interaction at a point where it can show you the issue and its resolution. This is data that is extremely valuable to the operator.”
Baker said that having useable data is key to GE and Gulfstream achieving all of the goals they have for the IVHM on the G650. Among those goals are host of benefits including increasing the aircraft’s mission readiness, reducing unscheduled maintenance downtime, reducing return- to-service times, and, of course, reducing warranty costs.
The bottom line with IVHM is the system delivers more than just gigabytes of data it actually presents it in a way that operators and technicians can actually use to improve the overall operational and maintenance efficiency of the aircraft.
With all that information in hand, GE and Gulfstream are making huge steps to dramatically reduce troubleshooting time – if not eliminate it all together. “When there is an event or something, rather than the current ‘shotgun’ approach to troubleshooting, we can identify it much faster and know where to look and what to do about it,” Baker said. “Now a technician anywhere in the world can have all the information they need to make maintenance decisions to get the aircraft back in the air quickly. This is a big advantage for Gulfstream.”
Proactive and Predictive It’s the dream of anyone who believes in
the benefits of preventative maintenance to actually be able to keep a problem from happening. Well, IVHM may just fulfill that dream.
Indeed, Baker said that another goal of the IVHM technology is to use the trending data as a proactive prognostic maintenance tool. IVHM uses an artificial intelligence-based technology that can actually ‘learn’ from the collected data, which enables prognostic maintenance capabilities. “Enabling prognostics though trending and usage monitoring allows you to start to get to a predictive level of what is going to happen to a component or system before is actually does. Imagine the benefits to that capability,” he said. “In that manner you can actually start to plan more maintenance events at set times, rather than sort of dealing with unscheduled repairs and all the downstream events that come with that.” “Our unique technologies in the IVHM world have already proven their capabilities around this predictive nature. We have certainly worked a number of proof-of-concepts with customers – airlines, business and military aircraft,” Baker said. “We have a very unique set of intellectual property at work here.”
Wirelessly connected. One of IVHM’s features that Baker feels technicians, and pilots for that matter, will really appreciate is the system’s total automation. “The wireless connectivity of the system is designed to move all of the collected information off of the aircraft in real-time without any manual intervention. A lot of other systems are still very manual as far as data collection and analysis are concerned,” he said. “Once the airplane lands, the IVHM system locates the best available way to wirelessly connect to the ground network and then automatically collects and sends the data.”
“It goes without saying that we [GE]
are extremely excited about this launch with the Gulfstream G650,” Baker said. “We are very focused on moving this capability to the next-level of predictive and prognostic capabilities. Deploying those capabilities to help operators control costs and achieve greater usefulness from their aircraft is a major focus for our efforts right now.” AM
If you’d like to see an informative video on GE IVHM, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=bSbReXT_bBs
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Aviation Maintenance |
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