Blockchain Applications for Rotorcraft Component Tracking

In this paper we propose a hierarchical distributed database architecture (HDDA) for tracking rotorcraft configuration, usage, and health state down to the component-level. We leverage key blockchain technologies to guarantee data integrity and provide auditable and verifiable data lineage records, enabling a fleet-wide distributed architecture that scales from onboard edge nodes to enterprise server clusters. HDDA's unique design supports key rotorcraft use cases at all organizational levels, including onboard collection of rotorcraft health and usage data by edge nodes, automated record keeping to reduce maintenance burden and error for ground support personnel, fleet-wide data analysis of individual rotorcraft components to achieve longer maintenance free operating periods and improved rotorcraft health state awareness at all organizational levels. We describe the high-level design of HDDA and provide rationale for our design choices.