Device and system for inspecting aircraft prior to takeoff

A system for inspecting surfaces of an aircraft prior to takeoff, the system comprising:

• an unmanned aerial device movable relative to the surfaces of the aircraft wherein the unmanned aerial device moves at a distance spaced-apart from the surfaces of the aircraft;
• a first camera on the device for determining conditions of the surfaces of the aircraft, the first camera being a short-wave infrared camera configured to detect light reflected from the surfaces of the aircraft that is in the short-wave infrared range and to provide a signal indicative of the light reflected from the surfaces;
• a second camera on the device for determining conditions of the surfaces of the aircraft, the second camera being a visible light camera configured to detect variations in an appearance of the surfaces of the aircraft and to provide a signal indicative of the appearance of the surfaces;
• and
• a control module for receiving the signals from the first and second cameras, wherein the control module is configured to generate a composite image by overlaying the signals from the first and second cameras onto an image of the aircraft, the control module programmed to determine, based on the composite image a condition of the surfaces of the aircraft and to communicate that condition to an external location.

A method for inspecting surfaces of an aircraft prior to takeoff and determining a presence or absence of a contaminate and/or fluid failure on critical surfaces of the aircraft, the method comprising steps of:

• successively positioning an unmanned aerial device adjacent a plurality of surfaces of the aircraft wherein the unmanned aerial device moves at a distance spaced-apart from the surfaces of the aircraft, the device comprising a first camera for determining conditions of the surfaces of the aircraft, the first camera being a short-wave infrared camera configured to detect light reflected from the surfaces of the aircraft that is in the short-wave infrared range and to provide a signal indicative of the light reflected from the surfaces and a second camera for determining conditions of the surfaces of the aircraft, the second camera being a visible light camera configured to detect variations in an appearance of the surfaces of the aircraft and to provide a signal indicative of the appearance of the surfaces;
• segmenting the surfaces in images provided by the first and second cameras to determine critical surfaces of the aircraft;
• generating composite images of the critical surfaces of the aircraft by overlaying the signals from the first and second cameras onto an image of the aircraft;
• and
• analyzing the composite images of the critical surfaces to determine the presence or absence of contaminates and/or fluid failure.