####### Jeremy Matott

####### Software Engineer

####### Sierra Data Systems

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# Next Generation FIS

Sierra Data Systems has been producing Flight Inspection Systems since
1975. The first computerized Flight Inspection System was delivered in
1984 and although it has continued to evolve, the overall functionality
has remained unchanged. In the 18 years that have elapsed, technology
has progressed at a staggering rate and features that seemed impossible
to incorporate just a decade ago are today not only possible but readily
available and is being offered to new and existing customers as part of
our products.

## [Providing a Comprehensive FIS Solution]{.underline}

Sierra's original Flight Inspection System provided a text-based user
interface and was really no more than a sophisticated data collector
that had been specialized to calculate flight inspection results and
compare them against tolerances. Although this remains the core
responsibility of the system, additional features are being added to
provide a more a comprehensive system that will aide the Flight
Inspector in performing day-to-day tasks as well as providing an
easy-to-use windows-based user interface that will be instantly familiar
to operators.

One of the tasks that an inspector is required to perform is to
determine which facilities need to be inspected and to provide a plan
for completing the work. The new system has an advanced mission planning
capability that will aid in the scheduling of inspections. This feature
will store standard inspection parameters to allow for the streamlining
of the inspection process while airborne. It will also track which
facilities need to be inspected based on scheduled events or can be
modified with custom parameters added by the operator. The inspection
process will also keep track of all checks required in accordance to the
FIS standard being used (ICAO, FAA, or user defined/local).

Another task is the creation of the facility inspection report that is
usually filed with the regulatory agencies. The system provides a
flexible final report feature that will allow the operator to customize
the final report format and determine what data is to be included in the
final report. The final report will be available for printing or
archiving to a removable media for later use. If the appropriate data
link equipment is available in the aircraft, the final report could be
uploaded automatically to a website thereby making it available
instantaneously to ground station personnel.

Finally, the Flight Inspector may be required to perform data mining, a
process in which the results of previous inspections are examined to
identify patterns and establish relationships. The system provides
sophisticated functionality that allows the operator to analyze data
easily from previous inspections allowing the Flight Inspector
unprecedented ability to view the historical performance of the
facility.

## [CAPE]{.underline}

At the heart of Sierra's next generation system is the Common
Acquisition and Processing Environment (CAPE) [^1]^1\]^. CAPE is a
component-based software framework that was jointly developed by the FIS
alliance over the last three years. It allows for the Alliance companies
to design and develop their proprietary algorithms and positioning
systems while using a common software framework. It provides members
ability to share resources between the companies and provide a more
stable software base. CAPE was developed to be platform independent,
allowing the companies to respond easily to changes in the computer
industry.

The initial CAPE development was concluded at the end of 2001. Sierra's
implementation of its next generation system is in its early development
stages and is using the CAPE software kernel. Although prototyping the
system has begun requirements continue to be refined. One of our main
goals is to provide an affordable way for our existing customers to
upgrade to the new technology while providing a new modern flight
inspection system option to future customers. Most customers that have
one of Sierra's computerized flight inspection systems can be upgraded
to the new technology by replacing the 68xxx processor with a new
PowerPC processor (unless the system already has a PowerPC processor),
replacing the graphics processor with a secondary Intel processor, and
replacing the keyboard and monitor. This offers the customer a
significant technology upgrade with a minimum impact to spare inventory,
cost and minimum disruption to operations.

## 

## [Future of Flight Inspection]{.underline}

The rapid growth of technology makes ideas that were once scoffed at
more than just a possibility it makes them a reality.

Computer graphics processors have been pushing the envelope of 3-D
graphics since the 1990's. Today's graphics processors can render
near-photo quality images at 30 frames per second. Real-time 3-D
visualization would allow the standard tabular display to be
supplemented by a 3-D representation of the flight inspection aircraft
and the facilities under inspection giving the flight inspector a unique
view of the inspection. In this bird's eye view, the aircraft's path
could leave behind trace marks in the shape of small globes. These trace
marks are color-keyed to indicate in-tolerance and out-of-tolerance
conditions. When an out-of-tolerance condition occurs the operator could
select the globe and independently analyze the section as the inspection
continues.

Voice recognition is becoming more prevalent and is being used in many
applications throughout the world including machine shops, emergency
rooms, and fighter aircraft. In a Flight Inspection System it could
allow the operator to use the system without a keyboard, mouse, or other
manual input device. After a brief training period for, speaking select
command phrases into a noise-canceling microphone can be used to operate
common system functions. This training can compensate for different
accents within the English language for each user of the system. This
can provide the operator a unique way to control the system when
conditions restrict or limit the use of other input devices.

Flight inspection soon will be able to be done remotely. One can imagine
a system in the not so distant future that includes an aircraft
instrumented with a satellite communication link being able to collect
data and transmit the data to a base station on the ground or directly
to a central flight inspection center that could provide the flight
inspection capability for an entire region or even the entire world.

Other futuristic scenarios include using drone aircraft to perform data
acquisition and allow flight inspectors to perform the inspections from
a ground location. Periodic inspections maybe also be augmented with
hands off automatic systems using commercial airlines to perform the
data collection and analyzing the data to allow for the early detection
of potential problems, especially for RNAV and GPS-based systems that
are difficult to monitor continuously.

Although predicting the future is difficult, the technology that CAPE
and the new system that is being built positions Sierra to quickly and
cost effectively respond to the changing needs of our upgrade and new
system customers.

[^1]: ^\[1\]^ "Office In The Sky -- The Next Generation Flight
    Inspection System" by Stefan Jageniak and Uwe Schramm published in
    the Proceeding of the 11^th^ International Flight Inspection
    Symposium.