EasyJet, Europe’s second largest discount air carrier has successfully completed a trial for the use of automated drone technology to scan and inspect its planes, reporting on any damage that may require further attention or maintenance work. With the successful test, the airline plans to roll out the small unmanned aircraft to inspect aircraft for damage at its 10 engineering bases across Europe within the next year. These include London Luton, London Gatwick, Geneva, Basel, Berlin, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Milan and three others across Europe.
Drones can be used to pick up damage caused by a lightning strike, which currently can require a full day of inspections. An overnight delay can cost as much as 15,000 pounds sterling (about US$23,000), the airline said.
EasyJet used small, quadrotor RISER (Remote Intelligent Survey Equipment for Radiation) UAVs for its inspection test. The consortium of Blue Bear Systems Research Ltd. and imaging specialist Createc Ltd. developed the airborne, mobile robot solution. The miniature rotary wing UAV and SNAP avionics autopilot were developed by Blue Bear, providing the ability to hover and maneuver within complex, industrial environments autonomously, while Createc’s N-Visage 3-D radiation mapping software with a gamma radiation spectrometer was hosted on-board the drone. The UAV navigated around a predetermined path while simultaneously mapping the passenger aircraft with Createc's V-Visage software.
The technology is intended to trim the number of hours jetliners are out of service. Implementing automated drones next year means that checks that would usually take more than a day to complete can now be performed in a couple of hours with greater accuracy, which in turn leads to a reduction in technical related delays, according to the airline.
