Methods and systems for non-destructive composite evaluation and repair verification

摘要

A non-destructive inspection system for a structure is described. The inspection system includes a local positioning system (LPS) configured for determining position and orientation of objects relative to a structure coordinate system, a six degree-of-freedom digitizer operable for at least one of temporary attachment to the structure and placement proximate the structure, a non-destructive sensor array, and a processing device.

主权项

1. A non-destructive evaluation system for a structure comprising:
a local positioning system (LPS) configured for determining position and orientation of objects relative to a coordinate system of the structure; a six degree-of-freedom digitizer operable for at least one of temporary attachment to the structure and placement proximate the structure, said digitizer comprising a base and an articulated arm extending from said base and having a distal end, said local positioning system further configured for determining a position of said base of said digitizer in the coordinate system of the structure, said digitizer configured to determine a position and an orientation of said distal end of the digitizer with respect to said base; a non-destructive evaluation sensor array configured for attachment to said distal end of said articulated arm for movement across a surface of the structure in multiple positions and orientations; a processing device configured to determine position and orientation data for said non-destructive evaluation sensor array based on the position and orientation of said digitizer base as calculated by said local positioning system and the position and orientation of said distal end of said digitizer as provided by said digitizer, said processing device further configured to operate said sensor array for collection of scan samples relating to the structure and correlate the individual scan samples with the corresponding position and orientation data relating to said distal end of said digitizer to create an integrated representation of the scan volume of the structure, defined in the coordinate system of the structure; and wherein said digitizer base includes reference points thereon, wherein the reference points are in a known pattern relative to a digitizer coordinate system such that by using the reference points along with position measurements collected by the LPS for the reference points, the position and orientation of the base can be determined.