Development of maintenance application using the mixed reality tool HoloLens, to support technicians with the main gearbox maintenance of the Airbus Helicopter H145

Abstract

The Airbus Training Academy in Donauwörth is part of Airbus Helicopters Deutschland. The training academy’s main purpose is to train helicopter maintenance technicians on maintenance practices for the H135 and H145 helicopters. The proper maintenance of helicopter systems is of utmost importance to ensure safety during helicopter operations. It is therefore imperative to keep training practices at a very high standard and for that reason, the training academy is always researching new methods and tools to accommodate that goal. As such, the purpose of this thesis is to explore new innovative technologies to facilitate training activities taking place at the Training Academy. The technologies explored are part of the immersive technologies field. While a short overview of the existing technologies is presented, the focus of this thesis is on Mixed Reality and the application created using the Airbus developed tool, Lexington. The goal of this project is to create an application to be used with Microsoft’s HoloLens headset, which enables the user to perform maintenance tasks efficiently and independently. The specific maintenance task in question for this project is the removal and installation of the freewheel clutch on the H145 gearbox. The end product is then tested and evaluated by different stakeholders who have invested interest and are regularly involved in maintenance procedures. Notes and suggestions from involved parties are taken into consideration to improve the application, following the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. Finally, recommendations for future work are being made, with the hope that the integration of immersive technologies in training and maintenance will be the focal point of many other projects to come.