Technology Category
- Automation & Control - Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC)
- Automation & Control - Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA)
- Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
- Sensors - Temperature Sensors
Applicable Industries
- Aerospace
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Machine Condition Monitoring
The Customer
About The Customer
The Challenge
The Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility at Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio is the world's largest space simulation chamber measuring 100 feet in diameter and rocketing more than six stories tall.
The facility conducts tests within the vacuum chamber after the necessary electrical power, fuel, oxidizer, and purge gas connections are made. To recreate the conditions of outer space while still on earth, the test facilities rely on vacuum pumps and cryogenic systems which can simulate deep space temperatures down to -423°F. Protecting the scientists and engineers is critical to moving space missions forward safely.
The Solution
Programmable Logic Controllers are used in conjunction with the SCADA and historian software to control and log all events of the test firing from the start of the water deluge system until the completion of the engine test firing and facility shutdown. WIN-911 delivers critical alarm information via voice callout along with email and paging notifications to NASA engineers during the test procedure.
Operational Impact
Case Study missing?
Start adding your own!
Register with your work email and create a new case study profile for your business.
Related Case Studies.
Case Study
Airbus Soars with Wearable Technology
Building an Airbus aircraft involves complex manufacturing processes consisting of thousands of moving parts. Speed and accuracy are critical to business and competitive advantage. Improvements in both would have high impact on Airbus’ bottom line. Airbus wanted to help operators reduce the complexity of assembling cabin seats and decrease the time required to complete this task.
Case Study
Aircraft Predictive Maintenance and Workflow Optimization
First, aircraft manufacturer have trouble monitoring the health of aircraft systems with health prognostics and deliver predictive maintenance insights. Second, aircraft manufacturer wants a solution that can provide an in-context advisory and align job assignments to match technician experience and expertise.
Case Study
Aerospace & Defense Case Study Airbus
For the development of its new wide-body aircraft, Airbus needed to ensure quality and consistency across all internal and external stakeholders. Airbus had many challenges including a very aggressive development schedule and the need to ramp up production quickly to satisfy their delivery commitments. The lack of communication extended design time and introduced errors that drove up costs.
Case Study
Developing Smart Tools for the Airbus Factory
Manufacturing and assembly of aircraft, which involves tens of thousands of steps that must be followed by the operators, and a single mistake in the process could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix, makes the room for error very small.
Case Study
Accelerate Production for Spirit AeroSystems
The manufacture and assembly of massive fuselage assemblies and other large structures generates a river of data. In fact, the bill of materials for a single fuselage alone can be millions of rows of data. In-house production processes and testing, as well as other manufacturers and customers created data flows that overwhelmed previous processes and information systems. Spirit’s customer base had grown substantially since their 2005 divestiture from Boeing, resulting in a $41 billion backlog of orders to fill. To address this backlog, meet increased customer demands and minimize additional capital investment, the company needed a way to improve throughput in the existing operational footprint. Spirit had a requirement from customers to increase fuselage production by 30%. To accomplish this goal, Spirit needed real-time information on its value chain and workflow. However, the two terabytes of data being pulled from their SAP ECC was unmanageable and overloaded their business warehouse. It had become time-consuming and difficult to pull aggregate data, disaggregate it for the needed information and then reassemble to create a report. During the 6-8 hours it took to build a report, another work shift (they run three per day) would have already taken place, thus the report content was out-of-date before it was ever delivered. As a result, supervisors often had to rely on manual efforts to provide charts, reports and analysis.