Aircraft maintenance support system for a commonly used engine type

Abstract

Aircraft fault isolation is an important function in aircraft maintenance. This project seeks to break new grounds in automation of this domain. AMSS is a system developed as a result of tapping the expert engineers' knowledge and experience and developing this information into a reusable application that adds value to the less experienced engineers. Aircraft Maintenance Support System (AMSS) is a rule-based expert system that uses a process of isolating the probable cause of the fault and finally identifying its solution. Above that, the dynamic nature of aircraft problems makes it imperative to have a function that adds new rules as they occur. This project takes note of previous projects of such nature that have been developed and are operated commercially. Ample research has been done to ensure that all factors of this problem are taken into account. A prototype has been developed and submitted for testing by end users. The prototype was created using Visual Basic 6.0 for programming and MS Access for the database. Research and testing were done mainly at Phoenix Aviation Ltd whose engineers were able to provide data and feedback. The objectives were achieved though not without a few hiccups that included the reluctance of the expert engineers to help. AMSS proved a reliable support system to the engineers while reducing costs, man hours and adding quality maintenance to the Aviation Industry in Kenya.