Autonomous Multi-Agent Robotics for Inspection and Repair of Propulsion Systems

Abstract

Research is underway at the NASA Glenn Researc h Center to develop and demonstrate the core technologies required to enable new and revolutionary approaches to engine diagnostics. One such effort investigates the use of multi -agent robots for autonomous search and inspection of propulsion systems. In t his envisioned application, on -wing engine inspections will be performed by groups of miniature mobile inspection devices that will traverse the interior surfaces of engine components in a coordinated, comprehensive search and inspection for damage. The cu rrent effort consists of several parallel activities that include: investigation into a range of algorithms for cooperative search, coverage completeness and obstacle avoidance; development of 3 -D graphical simulation software that will serve as a virtual test -bed to facilitate the testing and validation of the control algorithms; and development of demonstration robots that will allow the integration of control algorithms onto hardware. These activities will culminate in a proof -of -concept demonstration in which inspection robots will work together in a coordinated fashion to search for damage targets in a hardware test -bed environment. This demonstration will validate the feasibility of using multi -agent robotics to perform cooperative inspections in app lications such as on -wing in situ turbine engine maintenance .