UTAS introduces FlightSense
19/07/2018
UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS) has launched a multi-tier set of aircraft subsystem monitoring and health management services, which will run on an expanded and rebranded version of its five-year-old aircraft system health management (ASHM) product.The suite, called FlightSense, offers three levels: repair, predictable and available, that give airlines a range of coverage options, from pay-as-you-go to a cost-per-hour choice that includes guaranteed asset availability. The common thread in each option is cost predictability derived from the company’s ASHM maintenance analytics platform.
ASHM’s latest edition, which UTAS has branded Ascentia, combines three primary data analysis methods: physics-based modelling, statistical analysis and machine learning. UTAS’s engineering and data science experts use the system to help customers improve aircraft reliability by developing predictive maintenance recommendations and optimising shop visit schedules and work scopes.
Ascentia builds on ASHM, which UTAS launched in 2013. That system took condition monitoring reports from various subsystems and calculated estimated values for certain key parameters, providing users with windows on how components were performing and when maintenance would likely be needed. The system also set up alerting functions to help customers monitor certain conditions and call attention to issues that may signal that a maintenance action is prudent.
In the years since ASHM made its debut, both the amount of data available and the computing power to crunch it has expanded significantly. UTAS, which makes a variety of aircraft subsystems, including wheels and brakes, thrust reverses and electrical generators, has been eyeing ways to leverage streams of data from its products to help boost asset availability for customers and broaden its aftermarket portfolio in the process.
The pending acquisition of Rockwell Collins by UTAS parent United Technologies Corporation should only expedite the effort. Among Rockwell’s core competencies is using sensors to generate useful data from components and providing communications channels to move data between aircraft and the ground.
