Propulsor Technology Incorporated — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N211-056

Description

Currently, the Navy relies on a system of physical gages to inspect and certify propellers. Physical inspection gages have inherent limitations, both in terms of the accuracy, out of tolerance condition identification, capital cost, continual maintenance and storage, and time involved in their application. The main goal of the project is to develop an alternative system to inspect propellers that reduces the cost and time while increasing the inspection accuracy. This project will develop a comprehensive Propulsor Geometric Certification and Repair System that digitally inspects blade surfaces, analyzes the data against tolerances, and projects contour deviations to guide required repair work.  The system will be controlled by a user interface, which marshals the operator through the inspection, analysis, and projection processes.  The components of the Propulsor Geometric Certification System will be an optical scanning system, analysis software, reporting software, projection system and an overall system user interface. The optical scanning system will collect a dense cloud of inspection points capturing the actual contours of the blade. The scanning system will be sufficiently accurate for tight-tolerance local surface contours, yet have the reach and access to fully capture the geometry of a large propeller.    The analysis software will determine the deviations for the full suite of propeller hydrodynamic parameters and deviations in localized surface contours relative to each specific design. The reporting software will generate a standard Navy inspection report comparing the analysis results to all propeller blade tolerances and act as the propeller certification report. The projection system will display deviations in surface contours onto the blade surface.  Utilizing a calibrated camera and projector system with a global and local target system, the projections will accurately show the magnitude and location of tolerance deviations.  These projected deviation images will guide the rework/repair process. The user interface software will guide the user through all steps of inspection, analysis, and deviation projection. The control software for the Propulsor Geometric Certification and Repair System needs to both interact and control the software of existing commercial equipment and present a simple instruction path to the user. Once completed, the Propulsor Geometric Certification system will replace the current gage system used by the Navy propeller manufacturers and repair facilities that provides high accuracy inspection results at a lower cost and a more efficient repair process.