Aviation Turbine Engine Diagnostic System (ATEDS) for the CH-47 Helicopter

Today, the troubleshooting process for gas turbine engines, coupled electrical systems and sub-systems installed on military helicopters is both burdensome and error prone. Maintainers are required to follow static fault isolation procedures (i.e., fault trees), either paper or electronic, that detail a series of sequential test and repair steps. There is a lack of direct communication between embedded (on-board) fault diagnostics and ground based troubleshooting systems, which necessitates transferring information manually that could otherwise be attained digitally and without human error. Today, troubleshooting effectiveness is, at best, on the order of 50%. Removed components are often categorized as No Evidence of Failure (NEOF) when tested in the back shops and Reliability and Maintainability (R&M) data associated with the maintenance tasks is not easily accessible.