The Boeing Company

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Gregory John Clark

John Lyle Vian

Emad William Saad

Paul E R Pigg

Jeffrey Lynn Duce

Gary E Georgeson

Stefan Richard Bieniawski

Morteza Safai

James J Troy

Michael D Fogarty

Kimberly Dawn Meredith

Joseph A Marshall

Charles A Erignac

Matthew A Moser

Jung Soon Jang

Ali Reza Mansouri

Paul Murray

Clete Mark Boldrin

Robert Daniel Kalinowski

Jonathan Patrick How

David Jeffrey Halaas

Ronald Carl Provine

Brett M Bethke

Khaled Abdel-Motagaly

Paul E Pigg

Mario J Valenti

Ali R Mansouri

Jonathan B How

The different advantageous embodiments may provide an apparatus that may include a number of robotic machine groups, a mission planner, and a mission control. The mission planner may be capable of generating a mission for the number of robotic machine groups. The mission control may be capable of executing the mission using the number of robotic machine groups.

Supervision and control of heterogeneous autonomous operations

A damage-detection apparatus for an aircraft may include a composite structure comprising embedded conductive traces. The embedded conductive traces may be for transmitting a damage-detection signal to indicate if the composite structure has been damaged.

Embedded damage detection system for composite materials of an aircraft

An aircraft includes a composite structure and a plurality of small lightweight pollable communication devices for providing lightning strike detection coverage of a region of the structure. Each device is rendered inoperative if at least proximate to lightning current.

Lightning strike detection

The different advantageous embodiments may provide an apparatus that may comprise a number of mobile robotic machines, a wireless communications system and a computer system. The number of mobile robotic machines may be capable of moving to a number of locations in a maintenance area and may be capable of performing a number of maintenance operations on a structure in the maintenance area. The wireless communications system may be capable of providing communication with the number of mobile robotic machines within the maintenance area. The computer system may be capable of exchanging information with the number of mobile robotic machines using the wireless communications system.

Autonomous inspection and maintenance

Nondestructive examination is performed on a composite aircraft component including a composite body and a conductive medium. The conductive medium is substantially more conductive than the composite body. The nondestructive examination includes applying an electromagnetic field that penetrates the composite body and heats the conductive medium, and creating a thermal image of the conductive medium to reveal conductivity information about the conductive medium.

Electromagnetically heating a conductive medium in a composite aircraft component

A system for identifying events includes a memory capable of storing a compressed event table including a number of events, the event table having been compressed by reducing the number of events in the event table without reducing the number of events represented by the event table. Each event of the event table includes a set of state parameters, and may also be associated with an output. The system also includes a processor capable of operating a fast state recognition (FSR) application. The FSR application, in turn, can receive a plurality of inputs, and identify an event of the compressed event table based upon the plurality of inputs and the state parameters of the compressed event table, event being identified in accordance with a state recognition technique.

System, method and computer program product for real-time event identification and course of action interpretation

A transponder module for vehicles. The module has a substantially universal vehicle sensor input interface capable of receiving sensor input from different types of vehicle sensors and from different types of vehicles. One or more processors and memory, in real time, receive vehicle sensor input data via the input interface. Based on a vehicle type stored in the memory, the processor(s) use the sensor input data to determine conditions of subsystems the vehicle. Based on the determined conditions, the processor(s) determine performance capabilities of the vehicle. The transponder module outputs information as to the stored vehicle type, determined conditions, and vehicle performance capabilities.

Determining and providing vehicle conditions and capabilities

Systems and methods for development testing of vehicles and components are disclosed. In one embodiment, a system includes a position reference system and a command and control architecture. The position reference system is configured to repetitively measure one or more position and motion characteristics of one or more vehicles operating within a control volume. The command and control architecture is configured to receive the repetitively measured characteristics from the position reference system, and to determine corresponding control signals based thereon. The control signals are then transmitted to the one or more vehicles to control at least one of position, movement, and stabilization of the one or more vehicles in a closed-loop feedback manner. The system may further include a health monitoring component configured to monitor health conditions of the one or more vehicles, the control signals being determined at least in part on the health conditions.

Autonomous vehicle rapid development testbed systems and methods

Growing community of inventors

Seattle, WA, United States of America

Gregory John Clark