Maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) is a common term in the aerospace industry. In recent years, automated tools have been implemented to streamline the process of capturing the digital data of physical parts. A recent article by Geomagic’s Alberto Griffa details out the various applications for MRO and the need for 3D point cloud processing.
Griffa’s article lists four main reasons that point cloud processing is ideal for MRO projects:
- It captures and reconstructs parts as they exist, enabling engineers to analyze damage and its underlying causes
- It enables engineers to accurately re-create parts for which no computer-aided design (CAD) data or documentation are available
- It enables engineers to analyze situations where every part is different, due to factors such as manufacturing variability and tolerances, wear patterns, and stress
- It improves asset management by speeding part reconstruction and inspection of as-built vs. as-designed parts, helping aircraft to return to flight much sooner
If any of these sound like they would benefit you, then you may want to implement tools that help you gather your data in 3D.
Some people still choose to use hand tools, but it is a manual process to collect the data, and the output is only in 2D. But with a device such as a portable coordinate measuring machine (CMM), the data can be captured in 3D. A specific type of portable CMM, such as a laser scanner, allows users to streamline point cloud processing because they can quickly, easily, and accurately capture millions of points. Point cloud processing software is then used to create a surface model that can be directly transferred into CAD software.
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