“Achieved breakthrough results”: the developer talks about the unique Russian robotic aircraft inspection system

- Your company, together with scientists from the Moscow Aviation Institute, has developed a robotic system for inspecting the outer surface of aircraft for various damages.

Such autonomous systems are already in use in other countries.

Did you rework foreign experience or create an original product?

— Naturally, we studied foreign experience and created an original two-medium complex consisting of a physically connected four-wheeled ground robot and a drone.

Nobody in the world has ever used such a solution for aircraft diagnostics.

Interacting drones and robotic ground vehicles are also used abroad, but for other purposes.

Our development takes into account aviation safety requirements, according to which drone flights are prohibited at airports.

For this reason, we connected the drone, made according to the quadrocopter scheme, with a ground robot with a flexible cable.

A special mechanism regulates the height of the drone, the degree of tension and the slope of the cable.

The robot and the drone are in a common information space, they exchange data, their work is synchronized.

The ground robot inspects the lower part of the fuselage and wing of the aircraft, and the drone examines all elements of the upper hemisphere.

I believe that the main difference between our product and foreign analogues is the possibility of obtaining data on the entire surface of the aircraft in automatic mode.

Abroad, in order to diagnose an aircraft, the separate use of a drone and a ground-based wheeled robot is practiced.

We have an integrated approach, which is not found anywhere else in the world.

The robotic complex was created in close cooperation with the department 305 "Flight-navigation and information-measuring systems" of the Moscow Aviation Institute.

During the implementation of our project, we received a grant from the Innovation Promotion Fund (now the Fund for Assistance to the Development of Small Forms of Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Sphere. -

).

This money is used to train the neural network to automatically detect defects and ensure the stable operation of the complex.

— What prompted you to such development?

- Not so long ago, our company, together with the Moscow Aviation Institute, developed a robotic patrol system, which was tested at the Zhukovsky airport.

True, it performs other functions - mainly the system performs identification using cameras and neural network algorithms.

The patrol robot is designed to create an additional level of security at airports, reduce the risks of illegal actions, including those of a terrorist nature.

During its trial operation, the idea arose to continue work on improving safety by creating a complex for monitoring the external surface of aircraft.

Our "birobot" is built on the same principles as the patrol system.

From it, he inherited the control and navigation system, which, of course, was seriously redesigned.

A trainable neural network is also integrated into the new platform: the more operations the complex performs, the more efficiently it detects defects in the outer surface.

— How does your platform work?

- The complex is approaching the aircraft.

Then the operator enters into the system the parameters of its orientation and dimensions, on the basis of which the trajectory of the movement of the components of the complex is formed to inspect the outer surface.

This process is carried out in a semi-automatic mode - the operator only occasionally intervenes in the control.

The data collected by the complex is processed using specialized software developed by us.

Then, using the neural network, various types of damage are determined, the location and parameters of which are noted on the three-dimensional model of the aircraft with the responsible operator. 

• Liner Inspection Complex

• © Photo from the personal archive of Mark Shumov, CEO of SK-Robotics

The ground platform has all driving wheels - it is very maneuverable, able to move through the snow, carrying a drone to the inspection site.

Please note that drones are subject to weather restrictions.

For example, strong gusts of wind are critical for him.

The undoubted advantage of the complex is its ability to navigate well in space.

In many ways, this quality is achieved thanks to the navigation system, which was developed jointly with specialists from the Department 305 of the MAI.

"Birobot" can use satellite signals or act independently of them thanks to a complex inertial-odometric system with micromechanical sensors.

The most difficult thing is to ensure the functioning of the complex as a whole.

For example, in order for a drone to land on a wheeled robot, the tether mechanism must adequately respond to tension and loosening, without allowing significant slack in the tether or abnormal distance of the drone.

Therefore, we are constantly improving the control system of this mechanism and its software.

- Why can't inspection functions be left to a person?

- Of course, a person can inspect an aircraft, identify cracks and deformations.

Actually, this is what the engineering and technical staff of airlines at all airports in the world is doing now.

In the vast majority of cases, this work is done responsibly.

However, for obvious reasons, it does not meet modern requirements either in terms of quality or execution time.

In addition, it is very difficult to assess the state of the upper part of the outer surface of the aircraft.

But there can also be damage arising from the so-called fatigue factors (degradation of the mechanical properties of the material as a result of operational loads), falling rivets, collisions with birds, etc.

At the same time, as I have already said, due to legislative restrictions in our country, the use of drones is not allowed at the airport, from which these damages could be identified.

Nobody canceled the notorious human factor.

Unfortunately, the history of domestic and world aviation knows cases when negligence or lack of attention led to emergency situations and even disasters.

So, in May 2019, an SSJ-100 flew from Sheremetyevo to Izhevsk airport with an unhooked ground cable.

This device is a special metal wire with a clip, which is necessary to remove static electricity (the aircraft accumulates it in flight when rubbing against the air).

Usually, the ground cable is placed in a special box before the flight, which is left on the ground.

However, this was not done.

As a result, the cable was removed into a niche for the chassis, and during the inspection no one paid attention to it.

• Aircraft Inspection Complex

• © Photo from the personal archive of Mark Shumov, CEO of SK-Robotics

The flight went well, but when the liner came in for landing, the cable fell out of the niche and began to hit the fuselage.

After landing, the technicians counted about 30 holes on it, which resembled large-caliber bullet holes.

As a result, the liner had to be sent for repairs.

I'm talking about the SSJ incident as an example of recurring human error: ground crews didn't work out before the flight, aircraft technicians didn't find anything out of the ordinary on inspection.

In this case, everything worked out, except, of course, for the financial losses of the air carrier and the damage caused to the nervous system of passengers who heard a roar on the liner’s skin during the landing approach.

Humans do not need to be completely replaced by robots.

But when inspecting aircraft, it makes sense to use autonomous vehicles for more thorough safety tasks.

In addition, it is beneficial for airlines, which sometimes suffer significant costs due to the human factor.

— And what, in principle, should you pay attention to when inspecting an aircraft?

- During the inspection of the liners, as a rule, the above defects are detected.

Most of the time they are unimportant.

Nevertheless, during the operation of the liner, for example, cracks can increase in size, and at some stage they need to be urgently eliminated.

Naturally, through damage to structural elements is rare, but very serious.

In addition, when inspecting the aircraft, they pay attention to the condition of the wing, landing gear, numerous hatches, mounts, shields, filling fittings and indicators.

— Are there many imported components in your robotic complex?

Are there any risks of supply restrictions?

— There are quite a lot of high-tech components in the complex — electric motors, controllers, computing equipment, data exchange systems.

Like other companies, we created it based on systems and units available to the global market.

Now things have become a bit more complicated.

But the storm that was in the market in the spring is gradually subsiding.

Sanctions so far hardly affect us.

• Robotic system for inspection of liners

• © Photo from the personal archive of Mark Shumov, CEO of SK-Robotics

We can already buy some of the components in Russia.

For example, a worthy domestic analogue of a neural network accelerator has recently appeared.

— What are your plans for the future?

Will you improve the inspection robot?

“We have already achieved breakthrough results.

Of course, the main goal is to achieve commercial success.

There is interest in the two-component robotic complex.

We are ready to modify it according to the requirements of customers.

In the near future, a test operation of the complex at the Zhukovsky airport is planned.

I am sure that our product will certainly become more perfect due to the accumulation of thematic data and experience.

The more we conduct inspections, the more trained the neural network of the complex will become.

In the future, the product as a whole can become a tool for the formation of electronic life cycles - certification of the state of aircraft and other engineering objects (whether it be a cell tower, a bridge or a cruise ship).

This approach will make it possible to predict possible failures, deformations and destruction in the future.