System and method of automatically generating a phased array ultrasound scan plan in non-destructive inspection

A phased array ultrasonic inspection apparatus configured for conducting a plurality of inspection tasks on a plurality of corresponding test objects with the usage of a plurality of probes according to standardized codes and a set of rules of industrial expertise given according to PAUT expertise and operated by a field inspector, wherein each of the inspection tasks is performed according to a scan plan including instrument setup, acoustic setup, the positioning and movement of the probes,

• the instrument comprising:
• a template module configured to form a set of code and expertise templates, each for a category of the inspection tasks, by decomposing the codes, forming applicative guidelines and integrating the expertise rules for the categories of tasks,
• an electronic memory storing the templates,
• a test object geometry module and PAUT modeling tool configured to define a selected task out of the inspection tasks with a selected test object and selecting the category of the selected task and accordingly selecting a corresponding template which yields at least one selected probe out of the plurality of the probes,
• an automated optimization engine defining a set of requirement scoring scheme including a target requirement score and optimization scoring scheme finding the most optimal optimization scores according to the corresponding template,
• wherein the optimization engine further evaluating N sets of probe operation parameters for the at least one selected probe, one at a time, using one of the N set of probe operation parameters to seek requirement scores using the requirement scoring scheme,
• and with m set of probe operation parameters achieving the target score, the optimization engine further configured to seek optimization scores using the optimization scoring schemes for the m set of probe operation parameters and to find a set of probe operation parameters to be the optimal set of probe operation parameters, and,
• the PAUT modeling tool uses the corresponding template and the optimal set of probe operation parameters to generate the scan plan for the selected task.