The 2019 CTMA Technology Competition finalists announced!

Congratulations to the six CTMA Technology Competition finalists! These companies will have ten minutes to present their technology and then five minutes to answer questions on May 8th during the 2019 CTMA Partners Meeting. The JTEG principles will preside over the finalist presentations and the winner will receive $50,000 in project funding, take part in a one-year technology demonstration/evaluation project, and a trophy!.  The finalists are:

Atmospheric Plasma Solutions. Inc. – Atmospheric Plasma Coating Removal

Atmospheric Plasma Coating Removal (APCR) is a media and chemical free process that can improve cycle time, lower cost, reduce injuries and increase environmental safety. Applicable to all service branches, APCR has demonstrated effectiveness while significantly reducing costs in labor, waste disposal, and personnel safety. This advantageous approach to coating removal uses the fourth and most abundant state of matter PLASMA. Using only the inputs of compressed air and electricity the system produces a special form of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma. This species of plasma is fundamentally different than a plasma cutter or a laser. This technology will support the objectives to address the backlog of deferred readiness and accelerate modernization programs while providing a new practice for greater performance and affordability.

BotFactory, Inc. – BotFactor: Desktop Electronics Printing & Assembly

A critical part of Electronic devices are Printed Circuit Board Assemblies (PCBAs), and fabricating them takes weeks, costs hundreds of dollars, and needs to be outsourced, exposing the PCBA design to potential tampering and theft. Maintenance issues are made worse when dealing with legacy boards, as few U.S. suppliers will still fabricate them. BotFactory’s SV2 is a desktop PCBA printer & assembly machine using 3 interchangeable heads to create complete boards in a few hours for around $20. The technology is portable and enables on-site or near-site electronics fabrication, saving significant time and costs. It guards manufacturing/repairs/maintenance operations from outside interference, greatly reducing risks of tampering or theft. Operational readiness is improved, preventing a simple malfunction from compromising mission-critical operations.

Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence – Hexagon Composite Inspection System

The first ever system dedicated to carbon-fiber part applications, the Composite Inspection System from Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence is set to revolutionize portable composite part inspection and analysis. The system comprises the custom-built Apodius Explorer 3D software solution combined with HP-C-V3D Apodius Vision Sensor hardware that has been designed to combine perfectly with a ROMER Absolute Arm with Integrated Scanner. With its advanced camera-based vision system and software designed specifically for composite component analysis, the Composite Inspection System delivers unmatched defect detection and full-part digitization for carbon-fiber components.

MELD Manufacturing Corporation – MELD: A Novel Solid-State Technology for Sustainment

There is a need to enable sustainment activities for materials that are not compatible with traditional repair strategies, such as high-strength aluminum alloys used in aircraft landing gears, armor plating for lightweight ground vehicles, and structural components of LCS watercraft. MELD is uniquely suited to provide both cost and time effective repairs in theater. MELD represents a portable process able to build, repair, and join metals, including non-fusion weldable materials. MELD offers a multifunction technology to those tasked with MRO activities within one piece of equipment, such as the ability to print near-net parts that are difficult or costly to procure, the ability to repair the unrepairable, and the ability to add corrosion/erosion resistant coatings to existing structures.

PTC – Vuforia Augmented Reality

The Vuforia AR platform uses advanced computer vision technology to enable digital content to be placed in real-world environments. With support for handheld and headworn devices, Vuforia includes easy-to-use workflows, SDKs, and cloud services for Unity and other leading development tools. Augmented Reality allows the maintainer to experience the digital information and digital representation of the aircraft or equipment in the context of a physical product using digital twins, 3D overlays, augmented work instructions with IoT data in a safe environment with full scale or miniature representations in any location or environment.

The United States Marine Corps – T-Glass

A lack of experience repairing or modifying equipment ranging from a jet fighter to a rifle can be difficult without an experienced individual to guide one through the process. Technical Manuals are often difficult to navigate in instances less than absolute certainty and maneuvering through the manual can be a lengthy task. To eliminate the cumbersome manual, the San Jose Innovation Cell plans to create a device known as T-Glass: ballistic protective eye-wear which allows one to search technical manuals using hands-free, voice activated technology. The use of this technology will mitigate the need for constant pacing between a physical paperback technical manual and the broken piece of equipment, or the use of a laptop containing a virtual copy of said technical manual as well as providing a hands-free search option.