inspection & monitoring
On-wing
innovation
Researchers at Nottingham University
are developing robotic tools that could
revolutionize the on-wing inspection
and monitoring of aircraft engines
espite being the
hottest day of
the summer in
the UK, a very
un-British 37˚C, the workshops of the Rolls-
Royce University Technical Centre in
Manufacturing and On-wing Technology
at Nottingham University are full of young
and talented engineers. They are working
with the latest instrumentation, materials,
robotics and control software to develop
testing, inspection and repair systems for
aircraft engines.
The one-year old building has excellent
air conditioning, but the researchers inside
the modern workshops are also motivated
by genuine enthusiasm. These promising
young engineers are developing ideas
with funding and tools from industry
and government which will ultimately
reduce downtime and increase the
reliability of aircraft.
Dragos Axinte, director of the Rolls-
Royce University Technical College (UTC)
in Manufacturing and On-wing
Technology at Nottingham University says,
“We design and build everything here
ourselves. We aren’t buying robots, we are
developing them.”
AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM // SEPTEMBER 2019 77
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