Inspection system for a gas turbine engine
AssigneeRtx Corporation
InventorsSheridon Haye, Jeremiah C. Lee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An inspection system for a gas turbine engine includes a team of terrestrial drones each equipped with at least one inspection sensor and at least one processor. The processor is configured to choreograph operation of the terrestrial drones to each move along an associated drone-specific inspection path and collectively traverse an area of interest in a gas turbine engine; and operate the inspection sensor of each of the terrestrial drones to collect inspection data along the associated drone-specific inspection path.
Claims13
An inspection system for a gas turbine engine, the system comprising:
- a team of terrestrial drones each equipped with at least one inspection sensor;
- at least one processor configured to:
- choreograph operation of the terrestrial drones such that each of the terrestrial drones moves along an associated drone-specific inspection path and the terrestrial drones collectively traverse an area of interest in a gas turbine engine, and
- operate the inspection sensor of each of the terrestrial drones to collect inspection data along the associated drone-specific inspection path,
- wherein each of the terrestrial drones includes a chassis defining a first, terrestrial side and a second, opposite side, a transparent floor mounted in the chassis, and the at least one inspection sensor includes an imaging device mounted on the chassis and situated to take images of the first side through the transparent floor, and the transparent floor includes an array of feelers extending therefrom on the first side, the feelers moving across an inspection surface and exerting pressure on the floor that varies with topography of the surface, the pressure registering as a change in localized optical properties of the floor, and the imaging device illuminating the floor and the at least one processor determining the topography of the inspection surface based on the localized optical properties of the floor.
A method for inspecting a gas turbine engine, the method comprising:
- deploying a team of terrestrial drones in a gas turbine engine, each of the terrestrial drones is equipped with at least one inspection sensor;
- choreographing operation of the terrestrial drones such that each of the terrestrial drones moves along an associated drone-specific inspection path and the terrestrial drones collectively traverse an area of interest in the gas turbine engine;
- and
- operating the at least one inspection sensor of each of the terrestrial drones to collect inspection data along the associated drone-specific inspection path,
- wherein each of the terrestrial drones includes a chassis defining a first, terrestrial side and a second, opposite side, a transparent floor mounted in the chassis, and the at least one inspection sensor includes an imaging device mounted on the chassis and situated to take images of the first side through the transparent floor, and the transparent floor includes an array of feelers extending therefrom on the first side, the feelers moving across an inspection surface and exerting pressure on the floor that varies with topography of the surface, the pressure registering as a change in localized optical properties of the floor, and the imaging device illuminating the floor and determining the topography of the inspection surface based on the localized optical properties of the floor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.