CTMA Project #: 140945
Problem: Electronic maintenance poses an ever-increasing challenge for the technician today because of the limitations of current No Found Fault (NFF) equipment and training. The reduced size of electronic chips, coupled with increases in their interactions and complexities of equipment, have led to difficulties in diagnosing system faults; when these faults occur at the component level and are intermittent in nature. The DoD is currently exploring opportunities to expand its suite of depot capabilities to address the current intermittent fault-testing void.
Benefit: Beyond the expense of faulty wiring and circuits, that underlying safety hazard for the machine operators is an unacceptable price to pay. Having the ability to fix faults before they become a critical situation is imperative. This scenario isn’t limited to commercial and passenger air services but also trains, buses, and ships, any equipment that relies on wiring and circuitry. Results derived from this project will also allow manufacturing, maintenance and sustainment industries to directly observe how they can produce a higher quality consumer electronic product that delivers more value for the general public in coping with the increasing complexity and engineering challenges of developing new products for the global competitive markets.
Solution/Approach: In Phase I the team identified Intermittent Fault Detection (IFD) technology capability and plan to expand NSWC Crane capability with Phase II use cases based on lessons learned to develop repair procedures of intermittent fault root causes and create documentation of re-test processes.
Impact on Warfighter:
- Improved safety
- Reduced maintenance man-hours
- Significant cost savings
- Increased warfighter readiness
DOD Participation:
- U.S. Navy (NSWC Crane)
- Joint Intermittence Test (JIT) Working Group
Industry Participation:
- Universal Synaptics
- NCMS
Benefit Area(s):
- Cost savings
- Repair turn-around time
- Maintenance avoidance and reliability
Focus Area:
- CBM+
