Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Odysight.ai announced on 31 July 2023 that they have developed a cutting-edge visual-based health monitoring system (HMS) for UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
The system is based on a multi-camera system that enables real-time monitoring of the aircraft’s health status, maximising safety and availability.
The Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter is a dominant player in the rotary-wing aircraft market. It is used in various roles, including transporting passengers and equipment, search and rescue, medical evacuation, and special missions. The Israeli Air Force operates 48 of the type.
The new visual-based HMS provides a comprehensive view of the helicopter’s systems, detecting component degradation and early malfunction before they become critical. The helicopter is equipped with Odysight.ai’s advanced visual sensing and video analytics technology, which includes multiple highly resilient cameras, a high-performance processing unit, machine vision embedded software and artificial intelligence/machine learning models and algorithms to support a variety of predictive maintenance and condition-based monitoring solutions. Cameras are strategically placed throughout the helicopter, capturing the real-time visual condition of various safety-critical components.
IAI is using its expertise with air platforms to integration and certify the new capabilities in order to incorporate them into the UH-60 helicopter, similarly to other improvements and systems that are integrated by IAI into the platform, especially in the avionic field.
The project, led by IAI’s Aviation Group – Engineering and Development centre, is part of wider IAI activity to develop and install cutting-edge HMS in aerial vehicles.
Peter Felstead
