On Thu, 2006-11-02 at 14:55, Andrew Welch wrote:
> > 4) Parts handling databases are already advanced.  That bit most of us
> > understand.
> 
> Not quite yet.  Each plane has a number of parts that have to be
> replaced after X number of flying hours.  The goal was (and still is I
> believe) for the plane to land and be connected to a computer on the
> ground.  This would would be told how many flight hours and work out
> what parts needed replacing.  It would produce a job sheet for the
> engineer, and a pick list for the parts dept, and place an order to
> replenish the stock.

You wouldn't need to necessarily connect the plane to the computer
directly.  It has a transponder or other signature used to identify it
to friendly ground control, so that identifier is all you should need to
link it to the information needed to provide potential parts
replacement.  I've been thinking about this for a long time for use in
agriculture equipment, and I do this somewhat crudely with my car
today.  Of course, the key issue is tracking when the relevant parts get
touched/changed that will mess up the normal operations.

ast
-- 
Andrew S. Townley <ast@a...>
http://atownley.org