Avionics News September 2022 - 25

aircraft, an Airbus A330, at Woensdrecht Air Base in the
Netherlands, successfully demonstrating that outdoor drone
inspections can be conducted safely at an active airfield. Prior
to that event, drones had never before flown outside at an
active airport in Europe, but Dejan Borota, Mainblades cofounder
and director, predicts that will change in the future.
" If an aircraft lands and it is damaged on the way, for
example by lightning or birds, it must now first go to a closed
location such as a hangar, " Borota said. " That way, you lose a
lot of time. Besides this, hangar space is expensive to rent and
not always available. "
In the future, the Mainblades team envisions its technology making it
possible for automated drone inspections to take place as soon as an aircraft
lands, right outside the gate or the hangar, rather than having to wait for it to
be towed indoors.
With the release of new drone rules, the European Union Aviation
Safety Agency now approves Mainblades' outdoor drone inspections at all
European airports, and the company has received interest from the U.S.
" We have performed demonstrations in the U.S. for some of the largest
operators in some of the busiest airports in the world, and we are in ongoing
conversations with FAA and EASA to align and streamline the procedures
and requirements for aircraft drone inspections, both indoor as well as
outdoor, " said Michael Sprehe, Mainblades marketing manager.
AI and machine learning are other important areas of focus where
Mainblades is innovating.
" Despite the recent hypes about advances in AI, ML algorithms still
heavily rely on the experience and interaction of humans, " Sprehe said.
" Therefore, we center our algorithms around the collaboration between
our airline and MRO partners. Having humans in the loop allows us to
continuously improve the algorithms with less data and react quickly to new
situations and use cases. "
Additionally, Mainblades technology is able to create a " digital twin "
of the aircraft - a digital 3D copy of the aircraft's fuselage, wings and tail
- that will enable maintenance teams to more easily identify new damage,
compare findings to earlier inspections to identify anomalies, identify
maintenance patterns and predict when future repairs might need to be done.
The company recently started a partnership with LTP Philippines
(Lufthansa Technik Philippines), to make drones operational at their base
maintenance facility in Manila and is currently training existing partner
KLM Engineering & Maintenance so that the airline MRO's technicians can
use its drone to perform certified inspections. Results for both customers are
expected by the end of the summer, Sprehe said.
Mainblades also is in close collaboration with KLM to work on
validation and certification for a specific use case: wing inspections to
address paint chipping on the Boeing 787. " The composite Boeing and
Airbus aircraft suffer from impactful paint peeling, particularly on the wings
of the B787 and the A350, " Sprehe said. " Given a paint inspection every
A-check (eight weeks) for a minimum of three hours, a widebody composite
fleet is on the ground for a long time. With our drone, we can reduce that
inspection time ninefold. "
Continued on following page
DRONE SERVICING/
REPAIR GLOBAL
OUTLOOK
The incorporation of drone
technology into aviation maintenance,
repair and overhaul operations takes
place in the context of the larger
drone servicing/repair market, which
delivers a range of services such
as surveillance, monitoring, aerial
photography, mapping, 3D modeling,
inspection and environmental
monitoring. In addition to MRO,
other sectors using drone servicing/
repair technology include oil and gas,
agriculture, logistics, utility and power.
" The global drone servicing/repair
market size is expected to grow
from $8.61 billion in 2021 to $13.08
billion in 2022 at a compound annual
growth rate of 51.9%, " according
to the 2022 Drone Servicing/Repair
Global Market Report, produced by
market intelligence specialist The
Business Research Company.
" The growth in the market is
mainly due to the companies
resuming their operations and
adapting to the new normal while
recovering from the COVID-19
impact, which had earlier led to
restrictive containment measures
involving social distancing, remote
working, and the closure of
commercial activities that resulted
in operational challenges. The
drone servicing and repair market is
expected to reach $65.41 billion in
2026 at a CAGR of 49.5%, " according
to the report. q
AVIONICS NEWS * SEPTEMBER 2022 25
Courtesy of Mainblades
Avionics News September 2022

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