Aircraft Wiring Update Impact Evaluation and Test Generation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for verifying the integrity of aircraft wiring systems during updates are inefficient, leading to extensive maintenance efforts and aircraft downtime, especially in retrofit scenarios where existing wiring is disturbed, and there is a lack of effective tools to determine and address the impact of wiring changes on multiple systems.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that evaluates the impact of wiring updates by retrieving operational and structural information from databases, generating test procedures, and combining them into an optimized process flow to create a new standard test procedure, incorporating both maintenance manual and non-maintenance manual sources, to streamline the verification process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional manual methods are used to verify wiring integrity during aircraft updates, then comprehensive testing can be performed, but maintenance time and aircraft downtime increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-generates disturbed system test procedures by analyzing wiring diagrams and identifying affected systems before actual maintenance begins. This preliminary analysis creates a customized test plan that guides technicians through only the necessary verification steps, avoiding time-consuming manual assessment of all wiring systems.
Solution Approach 2:
A computer-based system acts as an intermediary between wiring update specifications and maintenance execution. The system automatically processes wiring diagrams, identifies disturbed systems, generates appropriate test procedures, and presents them to technicians, eliminating the need for manual analysis and reducing maintenance time while maintaining comprehensive verification.
2Reliability
If comprehensive test procedures are developed for all disturbed systems, then system integrity is ensured, but engineering effort and procedure complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the overall wiring verification process into distinct, manageable components by identifying individual disturbed systems and generating specific test procedures for each. This segmentation allows technicians to address each affected system independently with targeted tests rather than performing comprehensive checks on all wiring systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts test procedure parameters based on the specific wiring changes being implemented. By analyzing the scope and nature of disturbances caused by wiring updates, the system customizes the extent and type of testing required for each disturbed system, avoiding unnecessary tests and reducing overall procedure complexity.
3Measurement precision
If manual analysis of wiring diagrams is performed to identify disturbed systems, then accurate impact assessment can be achieved, but time and specialist engineering resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual mechanical analysis of wiring diagrams with automated computer-based processing. The computer system electronically parses wiring diagrams, traces electrical connections, identifies disturbed systems, and generates test procedures automatically, achieving both high accuracy in impact assessment and rapid processing speed without requiring specialist engineering time.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of evaluating system impact of wiring updates for a vehicle is provided. The method comprises receiving input of the wiring updates and retrieving operational and structural information about the vehicle from several databases. Disturbed system impact metrics from the updates are determined according to the operational and structural information about the vehicle. A first set of test procedures correlated with the disturbed system impact metrics are generated from a maintenance manual. An impact estimate of the first set of test procedures are generated in near real-time. A second set of test procedures is generated from non-maintenance manual sources for wires not referenced in the maintenance manual. The first and second sets of procedures are combined into a single optimized flow according to user-specified parameters, and a new test procedure is created for addition to the maintenance manual based on the single optimized flow.