The 908th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron teamed with Mass Virtual last month to begin the first scans that will create extended reality training aids for the MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
Mass Virtual is an aircraft XR training company contracted by the Air Force to provide virtual reality training aids via the Integrated Technology Platform.
Extended reality is an amalgamation of features from virtual reality, mixed reality, and augmented reality that combine to create an all-inclusive training environment.
The Mass Virtual team used technology such as a LiDAR scanner, a Light Detection and Ranging scanner that uses pulsed lasers to measure depth and distance, and a photogrammetry scanner, which takes overlapping photos of a physical model and stitches them together digitally to make a 3D model, to get clear and thorough visuals of the components of the Grey Wolf.
The Mass Virtual crew covered a total of 19 out of 44 maintenance procedures to be digitally captured and turned into an XR task training space during this visit, from changing a rear tire to attaching a tow bar and taxiing the Grey Wolf. They captured sounds, photos, video and 3D video of each of the operations.
Master Sgt. Jason Gessler, an aircraft maintenance specialist with the 908th AMXS, was the head maintainer on this project. He led the narration of each procedure to allow for both an audio and video recording and explanation of each task.
“Every time that we touch this aircraft, if we do not do it correctly, there are other people’s lives at stake,” Gessler said. “The more training avenues that we have, outside of just being on the aircraft, the better for us, especially for our reservists that do not get to be hands on every day.”
The ability to train a large number of airmen is difficult, but the VR training allows for maintainers to train without having to sacrifice flying time for any of the aircraft.
Master Sgt. Michael Coleman, an avionics technician with the 908th AMXS, expressed how these new aids and technology will benefit all maintainers.
“The VR trainer will be very helpful in training future maintainers by giving them access to a form of the aircraft so they can get comfortable without feeling scared to touch a real aircraft and get comfortable enough to actually do the job the way that they need to,” Coleman said.
Caraline Aldis, a lead 3D art generalist at Mass Virtual, stated that it typically takes about six months with an airframe that they’ve already worked with, but since the Grey Wolf is a brand-new aircraft, they will need to gather more data, making the process lengthier.
“Planes are pretty easy for us to do because we’ve done so many of them,” Aldis said, “so it’s a whole new challenge to capture a helicopter, but it’s pretty fun.”
The Integrated Technology Platform is an Air Education and Training Command program, and Maxwell Air Force Base will soon be added to the list of 135 other DoD installations that already use the technology. The Grey Wolf is the 32nd Air Force aircraft to be added to the virtual hangar space.
Courtesy of Alabama News Center
