Robotic platforms and methods of use are disclosed that include: at least one robot or robotic device, at least one computer-based control system, wherein the system is at least in part located on the at least one robot, at least one communications system, wherein the communications system is designed to communicate between the computer-based control system and the at least one robot, and at least one evaluation system that is designed to implement and process at least one nondestructive testing method.

Embodiments described herein utilize Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) scan data obtained during a process performed on a surface of a structure to update a location of an NDI scanner on the surface. A subsurface feature within the structure is detected based on the NDI scan data, which are correlated with pre-defined position data for the subsurface feature. A measured location of the NDI scanner on the surface is corrected based on the pre-defined position data for the subsurface feature.

There is provided a method for evaluating the cleanliness of a steel material by an ultrasonic flaw detection method enabling rapid acquisition of highly reliable data. Ultrasonic flaw detection is performed to detect a flaw in at least one part in the range of 90% or more and 100% or less of a steel material (for example, round bar 2) at a radial position where the center of the steel material is set as 0% and the surface is set as 100%, and then the cleanliness is evaluated based on the dimension and the number of inclusions in the steel material obtained by the ultrasonic flaw detection.

A method of monitoring a portion of an equipment under pressure implementing a control station to control an ultrasonic non-destructive testing device through a remote network, includes: the control station sends a first measurement request to the non-destructive testing device; the control station receives a first plurality of measurement data from the non-destructive testing device, constructs a first mapping of the portion of the structure from the data; sends a second measurement request to the non-destructive testing device, receives a second plurality of measurement data from the non-destructive testing device, constructs a second mapping of the portion of the structure, from the second plurality of measurement data, and compares the first mapping and the second mapping.

An acoustic inspection device and an associated method for inspecting a component are provided. The acoustic inspection device is portable and includes an acoustic transmitter and receiver that may be placed on opposite sides of an inspection region on the surface of the component. The acoustic transmitter has an array of acoustic transducers for generating an acoustic wave that travels along a surface of the component and the acoustic receiver has an array of acoustic transducers for receiving that acoustic wave. A controller determines at least one surface characteristic of the component from the measured acoustic wave, such as its crystalline structure or grain size.

Embodiments described herein utilize Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) scan data obtained during a process performed on a surface of a structure to update a location of an NDI scanner on the surface. A subsurface feature within the structure is detected based on the NDI scan data, which are correlated with pre-defined position data for the subsurface feature. A measured location of the NDI scanner on the surface is corrected based on the pre-defined position data for the subsurface feature.

Disclosed is an ultrasonic inspection probe assembly comprising a water wedge and a flexible probe array assembly having a flexible acoustic module. The wedge is machined to match a test surface to be inspected and is configured to shape the acoustic module so that the active surface of the acoustic module is parallel to the test surface. Different wedges may be machined to match different test surfaces, but the same flexible probe array assembly may be used for all such surfaces.

An ultrasound scanning assembly is configured to inspect a structure, such as a composite winglet of an aircraft. The ultrasound scanning assembly may include an outer ultrasound probe configured to be positioned on an outer surface of the structure. The outer ultrasound probe may include a phased array transducer having a plurality of transducer elements. An inner ultrasound probe may be configured to be positioned within the structure opposite from the outer surface. The inner ultrasound probe may include a single element transducer configured to receive ultrasound signals transmitted by the phased array transducer.

A method for reconstructing geometry of an object surface via echographic probing, using an ultrasound probe including plural transducers, the method including: controlling the transducers to transmit towards the surface ultrasound waves having initial transmission delays between them; executing at least once a cycle of operations including receiving from the transducers intermediate measurement signals, correcting transmission delays of the transducers using intermediate measurement signals, and controlling the transducers to transmit towards the surface ultrasound waves having the corrected transmission delays; receiving from the transducers final measurement signals resulting from reflection of a wavefront received simultaneously on the surface; determining specular travel times between each transducer and the surface based on the final measurement signals and the corrected transmission delays; and perform geometric reconstitution of the surface based on the determined specular travel times.

A system for identifying variations at a weld location and accommodating for the variations. The system includes two sensors positioned on each side of a welding location, with a welding device at the welding location. The sensors each emit a signal toward the welding location and receive feedback from the signal that indicates the shape and size of the welding surfaces at the welding location. The sensor information, along with the exact locations and orientations of the sensors, is utilized to determine whether one or more welding parameters should be adjusted.