Pratt & Whitney debuted a new artificial intelligence inspection tool at the Paris Air Show this week aimed at simplifying pre- and post-lease analysis of aircraft engines.
Called Percept, the tool operates on a computer vision and artificial intelligence platform created by Indian startup Awiros. It enables users to capture images and videos of aircraft engines using a mobile device, which are then analyzed by the tool to check for missing components. Percept then provides a real-time response of the available or missing part list from the cloud server.
According to Pratt & Whitney (P&W), Percept automates inspections so inspectors do not need to check leased engines part-by-part, reducing inspection time by around 90%. It adds that this functionality enables faster, more cost-efficient turnaround of leased engine assets.
“The Percept tool empowers our customers to scan engines on their own, so they know what needs to be done to properly return an engine before it’s redelivered. Our customers can then determine what is the quickest and most cost-effective solution for missing parts identified by Percept before an engine is lease returned,” says a spokesperson for P&W.
Although Percept does not currently link directly to P&W’s inventory, the spokesperson says this functionality may be explored as the tool evolves.
The technology has been in development at the engine OEM since 2020, after Awiros was selected as the winner of the RTX Innovation Challenge, which was launched by P&W’s parent company in 2019 with the aim of finding solutions to optimize and automate aircraft engine inspections. Awiros’ idea was evaluated between 2020-21 and P&W expects to commercially launch Percept later this year.
P&W says Percept will be deployed exclusively on its most advanced commercial engines, including the geared turbofan and V2500.
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