Aircraft technicians these days are as likely to use a laptop as a printed manual and logbook, and to turn to the Internet for the latest job-status reports and technical information.

Engineers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are assisting them, using current computer and database technology to help military aircraft maintainers get their work done more efficiently. A team from GTRI's Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL) has been developing and improving maintenance software for the U.S. Navy since 2000.

Called the Maintainer's Electronic Performance Support System (MEPSS-), this software was initially developed for the Navy's P-3C Orion patrol aircraft. A more recent version is now helping maintain the RQ-2 Pioneer Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, and portions of the GTRI software are being used in other aircraft maintenance programs.

"The idea is to give maintainers all the information tools and decision-making capabilities that they need," said Gisele Bennett, director of EOSL and principal investigator for the project. "From a simplified standpoint, you can almost look at it as an information portal, where you're collecting and disseminating information to the maintainers".

MEPSS is typically installed on a laptop computer. Technicians can check parts lists, consult manuals, and add information about their work as they go.

The system can be updated in a variety of ways - through a squadron LAN, a standalone server, CD-ROMs, USB devices, or the World Wide Web. A Web-enabled system gives maintainers access to up-to-the-minute technical and parts information, and helps them both access and share work-related information.

Whatever the connectivity approaches used, the software performs a needed centralizing function, Bennett says. For example, by reviewing software reports maintainers can detect trends involving, say, troublesome parts that need multiple replacements. Or they can pinpoint repair techniques that need improvement.

And maintainers can conveniently brief themselves on an aircraft's maintenance history, right down to work done recently by a prior shift that is not on site to answer questions.

MEPSS uses MS Internet Explorer as the delivery mechanism for the information that is extracted from a database. The system also has the ability to post announcements, allowing effective dissemination of critical issues and information among an entire maintenance community.

"The maintainer can look up all kinds of information about how to repair a system, document what they did, document any problems, and add any helpful hints that they need to share," Bennett said. "It's a collaborative tool that lets them share information with other maintainers and between squadrons."



Source: Georgia Institute of Technology

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