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Academy cadets to conduct 'Flightline of the Future' research
Posted 10/14/2012
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by Lt. Col. Tim Pettit
Air Force Academy Management Department
10/14/2012 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFNS) -- The U.S. Air Force Academy's Dean of the Faculty Brig. Gen. Dana H. Born signed a cooperative research and development agreement with officials from Lockheed Martin recently for a "Flightline of the Future" initiative and three other research-related projects.
The Flightline of the Future program, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and the Air Force Logistics, Installations and Mission Support Directorate, seeks to develop technology for flightline-related processes, capabilities and enabling technologies out to 2020.
The program includes a "collaborative competition" among the Air Force Academy, the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy, said Kevin Billings, Lockheed Martin's director of logistics concepts.
Tasks for the 2012-2013 competition include four innovation categories and a modeling effort presented to cadets in the operations research capstone course Sept. 26 by retired Brig. Gen. Fred Van Valkenburg, the Flightline of the Future program lead.
Van Valkenburg told cadets he wants their ideas for sustainment technologies that improve affordability and aircraft availability.
"(Your ideas can) increase speed in decision making and reduce or eliminate tasks by applying human-out-of-the-loop systems that lead to improved situational awareness," he said.
Cadets will investigate the near-term technology and business case for 3-D printers to reduce stockpiles of spare parts through "just-in-time" local manufacture.
Aeronautical engineering majors have used 3-D printers to make mockups and wind tunnel models, but this project considers the application for operational aircraft, helicopters and remotely piloted aircraft.
Another team of Academy and West Point cadets will develop methods to apply augmented-reality technology into flightline maintenance. By wearing special glasses, maintenance technicians can view computer-generated overlays on what they are actually seeing, providing technical data when and where it's needed to get the job done right. Cadets said they envision this project as moving a video game into active duty.
Another team will evaluate using radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology to speed up flightline logistics. Maintainers can speed up check-in and checkout of tools and locate a missing tool immediately, while supply technicians will know what's on their shelves with the press of a button rather than hours of item-by-item counting.
Operations Research cadets here and at West Point will be developing computational models to optimize the beddown of aviation forces at a bare-base, solving the complex problem of balancing workplace efficiencies with safety and security.
Maj. Daniel White, a Management Department instructor, will advise several of the Air Force Academy teams through the innovation process.
"We work hard every lesson to arm cadets with the universal concepts of innovation so they can go out into the Air Force and deliver novel solutions to real problems," White said. "We take them through more than just an academic exercise. They work real problems and real ideas to deliver real value at the end of the course."
The Flightline of the Future competition will conclude with presentations by Academy and West Point cadets in April 2013.
Judges from the Air Force Logistics Directorate and Lockheed Martin will select the best business case analysis for the inaugural trophy, White said.
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