# US 12,767,354 B2 · Aircraft component identification system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,767,354 B2 - Document ID: US12767354B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/676,667 - Filed: 2024-05-29 - Published: 2025-12-04 - Granted: 2026-10-20 - Earliest claimed: 2024-05-29 - Assignees: Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. - Applicants: Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. - Inventors: Magdalena Agnieszka Kuzdro; Krzysztof Zegar - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12767354B2 ## CPC - B64F 5/60: Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems - G06V 20/62: Text, e.g. of license plates, overlay texts or captions on TV images - G06V 30/146: Aligning or centring of the image pick-up or image-field - B64F: GROUND OR AIRCRAFT-CARRIER-DECK INSTALLATIONS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH AIRCRAFT; DESIGNING, MANUFACTURING, ASSEMBLING, CLEANING, MAINTAINING OR REPAIRING AIRCRAFT, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; HANDLING, TRANSPORTING, TESTING OR INSPECTING AIRCRAFT COMPONENTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING ## Abstract An aircraft component identification system, has: a camera configured for capturing an image of a part identifier on an aircraft component of an aircraft engine, the part identifier including a series of characters; and a controller operatively connected to the camera, the controller having a processing unit and a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by the processing unit to: perform optical character recognition on image data obtained from the image captured by the camera to identify the series of characters, including feeding the image data to a trained model, the trained model having been trained using machine learning and training data, the training data including image data sets associated with part identifier sets; and obtain information about the aircraft component using the series of characters of the part identifier. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An aircraft component identification system, comprising: a camera configured for capturing an image of a part identifier on an aircraft component of an aircraft engine, the part identifier including a series of characters; a support mechanism having a movable support supporting the aircraft component, the movable support operable for moving the aircraft component and the camera relative to one another; and a controller operatively connected to the camera, the controller having a processing unit and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by the processing unit to: perform optical character recognition on image data obtained from the image captured by the camera to identify the series of characters, including feeding the image data to a trained model, the trained model having been trained using machine learning and training data, the training data including image data sets associated with part identifier sets, the part identifier sets including partially damaged part identifiers, including moving the aircraft component and the camera relative to one another with the support mechanism; and obtain information about the aircraft component using the series of characters of the part identifier. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the aircraft component is an airfoil of an assembly including a hub and a plurality of airfoils mounted to the hub, the assembly mounted on the movable support. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the assembly is supported by the movable support, the movable support being rotatable about an axis coaxial with a central axis of the assembly. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The system of claim 3, comprising a motor engaged to the movable support, the motor operatively connected to the controller, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further having instructions executable by the processing unit to: receive a command from a user; and cause the motor to rotate the assembly in response to the command. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the movable support is operatively connected to the controller, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further having instructions executable by the processing unit to: cause the movable support to move the one of the assembly and the camera; detect when the part identifier is within a line of sight of the camera; and cause the movable support to stop moving the one of the assembly and the camera when the part identifier is within the line of sight. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, comprising a light operatively connected to the controller, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further having instructions executable by the processing unit to: determine that a luminosity of the image is below a minimum threshold; and cause an increase in a power supplied to the light. ### Claim 7 A method of maintaining an aircraft engine, comprising: receiving image data of an image of an aircraft component of the aircraft engine, the image being captured with a camera and including a part identifier of the aircraft component; performing optical character recognition on the image data to obtain a series of characters of the part identifier by feeding the image data to a trained model, the trained model having been trained using machine learning and training data, the training data including image data sets associated with part identifier sets, the part identifier sets including partially damaged part identifiers, the capturing of the image includes moving the camera and the aircraft component relative to one another until the part identifier is within a line of sight of the camera; determining that the aircraft component needs servicing by obtaining information about the aircraft component using the series of characters of the part identifier; and causing the aircraft component to be serviced. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the receiving of the image data includes capturing an image of the aircraft component using a camera. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the aircraft component is an airfoil. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the airfoil is part of an assembly including a plurality of other airfoils, the capturing of the image comprising moving the assembly relative to the camera until the part identifier is within the line of sight of the camera. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, comprising: determining that a luminosity of the aircraft component is below a minimum luminosity threshold; and increasing power supplied to a light located in a vicinity of the aircraft component. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the determining that the luminosity is below the minimum luminosity threshold includes receiving a signal from a sensor of the camera, the sensor configured for generating a signal indicative of the luminosity. ### Claim 13 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the causing of the aircraft component to be serviced includes causing a replacement or a maintenance of the aircraft component. ### Claim 14 A method of performing optical character recognition of a part identifier on an aircraft component of an aircraft engine, comprising: receiving image data of an image of a part identifier on the aircraft component, the part identifier composed of a series of characters, including capturing an image of the aircraft component using a camera; performing optical character recognition on the image data to obtain a series of characters of the part identifier by feeding the image data to a trained model, the trained model having been trained using machine learning and training data, the training data including image data sets associated with part identifier sets, the part identifier sets including partially damaged part identifiers, the capturing of the image includes moving the camera and the aircraft component relative to one another until the part identifier is within a line of sight of the camera; and displaying the series of characters on a display. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the aircraft component is an airfoil. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the airfoil is part of an assembly including a plurality of other airfoils, the capturing of the image comprising moving the assembly relative to the camera until the part identifier is within the line of sight of the camera. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, comprising: determining that a luminosity of the aircraft component is below a minimum luminosity threshold; and increasing power supplied to a light located in a vicinity of the aircraft component. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the determining that the luminosity is below the minimum luminosity threshold includes receiving a signal from a sensor, the sensor configured for generating a signal indicative of the luminosity. ### Claim 19 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, comprising determining that the aircraft component needs servicing by obtaining information about the aircraft component using the series of characters of the part identifier.