An automated approach and virtual environment for generating maintenance instructions

Abstract

Maintenance of complex machinery such as aircraft engines requires reliable and accurate documentation, including illustrated parts catalogs (IPCs), exploded views, and technical manuals describing how to remove, inspect, repair and install parts. For new designs, there are often time constraints for getting a new engine to the field, and the available documentation must go with it. Authoring technical manuals is a complex process involving technical writers, engineers, as well as domain experts (mechanics and designers). Often, several revisions are required before a manual has correct IPC figures and maintenance instructions. Compounding this problem is that technical writers often perform tasks better suited for computers, leading to increased costs and error.In this demonstration, we describe a new framework to generate maintenance instructions from solid models (Computer Aided Design/CAD data) and then validate these instructions in a haptics-enabled virtual environment. Our approach utilizes natural language processing techniques to generate a presentation-independent logical form, which can be transformed for display within the virtual environment. During the development of the system, task analyses, human models, usability studies, and domain experts were used to gain insights. The end result is a more integrated and human-centered process for developing technical manuals, providing higher quality documents with less cost.