When there's a mechanical issue with an airplane, it means a delayed flight at best and a horrific crash at worst. An autonomous robot would have the ability to travel into small areas such as a turbine engine and can repair mechanical parts that would be difficult or inconvenient for a human to get to. This allows for better oversight and more on-time flight arrivals by reducing delays due to mechanical errors.
There are countless stories of passengers being delayed by a mechanical issues. From personal experience, I was on a plane from Philadelphia to Los Angeles and every passenger was stuck onboard the plane for two hours as we waited for engineers to fix the mechanical issue.
Incidents like these can be avoided with proper maintenance ahead of time and using robots to automatically inspect engines and other monotonous tasks.
For example, we can use the donkey car to inspect rivets for cracks in troublesome places.
It would go along the path of the plane, record a video, and analyze the rivet in each frame for signs of tear, rust, and other signs of damage. Along with a drone, it can look in every nook and cranny that would be cumbersome for a human to achieve. This highly repetitive task could be automated and thus, make it safer and more efficient for everyone.
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