The US Air Force had a need to improve their inspection and maintenance processes. In particular, the Air Force wanted improved capability for monitoring of inspection coverage, trending of inspection data across multiple aircraft, and communication between the inspection, 
engineering, and maintenance groups. Utilizing our unique data management technology, we are developing solutions to these problems for inspections which generate digital data. By automatically aligning the data to the CAD model of the aircraft, we are able to quickly identify regions of missed inspection coverage. Additionally, by aligning the data we are inherently also aligning any inspector-made indications and annotations, which enables the visualization and reporting of trends. Reports can be easily generated from this data, facilitating communication between personnel.
New aircraft with composite structures require a more involved analysis and design process during inspection and repair as compared to traditional structures. The US Navy needs to streamline the current manual process used to accurately localize areas of structural damage on structural CAD models. Etegent is working with the Navy to develop a process in which damage, which has been marked on the structure, is identified in a photograph, and a well established photogrammetric approach is then used to automatically and accurately localize that damage on a 3D CAD model of the structure.
Our technology developed for the US Air Force and Navy has also been applied to the manufacturing industry. Aligning inspection images to and mapping the data on the 2D/3D CAD model of the part being manufactured provides a number of benefits. One such benefit is the ability to perform defect trending across various parameters, such as time of manufacture, manufacturing line, and so on. Additionally, any damage or defects can also be accurately mapped onto a CAD model of the part, allowing further investigation through analysis packages and other methods. Further, our tools provide the capability to search through the inspection data easily to identify other interesting trends, allowing for the creation of custom reports addressing specific issues. Finally, our tools can be used to ensure that the entirety of the part or structure being manufactured has been properly inspected.