VR Moving to MTX Forefront

New modalities for training delivery continue to penetrate the domain of aircraft maintenance training; one form establishing some critical mass, reports Mario Pierobon, is virtual reality.

The aviation maintenance sector is at the beginning of the combination between traditional training and immersive technologies.

“What we see are really two separate groups, both working toward a number of shared goals but from two very different starting points. The easiest way to unpack that is that there are companies actively working on the technology side of things (start-ups, in-house innovation groups, etc.) who have a strong understanding of and experience with the underlying VR hardware and software platforms, and companies coming at the opportunity from a more traditional foundation, including enterprises, and traditional education platforms, providers, and institutions who bring a working knowledge and delivery platform approach that is still largely based on years or decades of ‘how this training has always been done’,” said Matthew Kammerait, Director of Digital Product Management at AAR.

Heading into the Covid-19 pandemic, AAR saw and participated in several active ‘meetings of the minds’ between these two groups. “They were often brought together by a shared desire to leverage the unique capabilities of the immersive hardware and software platforms to making the overall delivery faster, easier, cheaper, more enjoyable, or even more measurable – longstanding goals of the industry players and value drivers for the tech development side of the house,” Kammerait told CAT. “Academic research in the use of VR and augmented reality (AR) for high-skill, hands-on training of this type actually stretches back a few decades now, as well, providing a framework and some very basic best practice elements that can be incorporated and build upon in final solution design.”

Lufthansa Technical Training (LTT) believes that VR has potential as an add-on to future maintenance training. “In 2019, we set-up a pilot project to showcase the VR technology and their functionalities within aircraft maintenance training. This initiative has proven some benefits and applications of VR in training in general. Due to the current situation, it is still considered a pilot project, but we are convinced that VR, together with other digital solutions, will play a significant role in future maintenance training,” said Giovanni Patruno and Harald Schween, who are respectively Product Manager and Head of Sales, Key Account Management and Marketing at LTT.

Sanjay Kaeley, Head of Product Solutions for Commercial Aviation at L3Harris, observed that, in general, maintenance training has lagged behind pilot training in terms of adopting a regulated set of training tools. “To date, there have only been a handful of airlines that have experimented with VR and started to adopt it in maintenance training,” he said. “For a number of years, we have created interactive 3D training tools for maintenance training, which would be ‘VR ready’, whilst waiting for the VR hardware to reach a level of fidelity suitable to deliver training.”

Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) introduced 3D real time and VR in its training programmes because hangars, aircraft, engines or equipment were not reachable for training purposes. “After implementation of VR, and working on our training needs analysis (TNA), the first result was the efficiency of the training,” commented Denis Clement and Wanda Manoth-Niemoller, who are respectively the Head of Training Centre at Paris CDG and the Commercial Development Manager for Engineering & Maintenance Training. “Recent developments in training have propelled VR to the forefront, turning it into one of the priority issues of corporate. The technology requires specific servers, professional devices, proficient computers, and the high cost of implementation does not offer a suitable return on investment. We work to transfer our technology on consumer devices to reduce the cost. In the future, VR trainings will be ATAWAD (anytime, anywhere, any VR device).”

High Retention

According to L3Harris’ Kaeley, VR can be used for both basic and type training. “The main advantage of VR is the immersion it provides the trainee, which is important in maintenance training, giving the tactile nature of the subject,” he said. “The trainee can interact spatially in the environment which helps to build muscle memory for specific tasks, and the technology is able to deliver a good level of training effectiveness, with high levels of knowledge retention.”

Training content needs to be created with VR in mind, and this is labour intensive, Kaeley told CAT. “The technology has been around for many years, but it has only recently reached a level where the resolution of the visuals is high enough to move it past gaming and is applicable to training. With the current advances in higher-resolution headsets and increased frame rates, the amount of time the headset has increased from what used to be about 30 minutes, to up to two hours or so depending on the individual,” he added. “On the downside, VR today still lacks the ability to integrate tactile feel, with only the availability of gloves that provide basic sensations when one touches objects around oneself.”

Clement and Niemoller observed that the advantages of virtual reality and augmented reality are numerous. “In principle, one is able to model all complex mechanical systems in the aircraft, including systems that normally cannot be demonstrated on an aircraft. It is also possible to simulate normal and abnormal aircraft behaviour. Moreover, a virtual aircraft is available any place, any time, and nothing can wear out. If used in the classroom one can reduce the practical training on the aircraft by 50 percent or more,” they claim.

With VR it is possible to give the trainees a more detailed understanding of the complexity of an aircraft and the chance to ‘virtually’ get in touch with the components of an aeroplane, according to Patruno and Schween. “In fact, VR technology is still expensive and complex for the use in existing maintenance training programmes. Hence, beside the use of VR devices, which are limited in the sense of a broad learning experience yet, we strongly believe in the benefit of ‘blending’ traditional and digital learning methodologies; for example, the utilisation of our tool for spherical panoramic views of aircraft, systems and sub-systems within the instructor-led class, or through the provisioning of eLearning modules for the self-paced exam preparation,” they explained.

AAR sees VR as a point on a broad continuum of immersive learning and collaboration technologies. “Where we have seen VR has the greatest effect is in taking the learner from ‘the book’ to starting to develop a physical sense for the working environment, critical tools, and skills, etc. – all without leaving the classroom or a dedicated training facility,” said Kammerait. “In our view, however, it is really critical that learning and development do not stop when one leaves those environments and neither do the opportunities to deploy immersive technologies to unlock new skills and confidence on the part of the learner.”

AR and wearable computing are the next meaningful step, according to Kammerait. “With AR (as compared to VR), digital content is brought into the real world, with the proactive guidance and learning content gradually fading into the background as the student gains confidence and makes his/her initial attempts to complete the relevant task with little to no assistance,” he suggested. “Both AR and VR devices can also help connect students/novices to subject matter experts across both the facility and the larger MRO network – for those with multi-site platforms like AAR MRO – for remote collaboration and assistance.”

Evolving the Regulations

Regulators and other involved parties in the training system are starting to make more proactive moves in considering how VR and AR training and collaboration might play into regulatory posture and the evolving MRO platform as a whole, according to Kammerait. “What we have seen to date is a lot of interest from everyone involved about how it might enhance the learning experience and help attract new talent, especially in light of labour shortages that have affected the industry in recent years,” he explained.

Patruno and Schween observed that to date there has been little progress in Europe to implement new learning methodologies into the Part-147 and Part-66 regulations. “Hence, until today there are no formal benefits, such as credits to EASA Part-66 CAT A or B programmes, through the application of eLearning, digital media or VR,” they said. “On the other hand, the regulators have recently incorporated the possibility to use distance learning methodologies, such as video conferencing, into maintenance training requirements. This has been done in a very flexible and industry-oriented manner. We strongly believe that this positive experience and fruitful collaboration between industry partners and the regulators will be continued for the implementation of digital tools and solutions in the future.”

The technologies themselves have been proven over many years now to outperform some varieties/modalities of traditional training, commented Kammerait. “Thus, we believe on a long enough timeframe these in fact become a requirement of next-generation training platforms – and even as integrated parts of the live job workflow as well,” he said. “It is up to today’s practitioners and researchers to design clever integrations between the know-how and hands on experience of the industry with the accelerators and capabilities of both VR and AR platforms.”

Instructors, Standardisation

The transition from ‘traditional’ classroom training to new learning methodologies, such as VR, changes the role of an instructor significantly, Patruno and Schween told CAT. “Instead of instructor-led lectures the instructor becomes more a coach for the trainee, who gives guidance through the trainee’s learning path and experience,” they said. “This change comes along with new skills requirements for the instructors, e.g., the handling of digital media and tools within a modern blended learning environment. Nevertheless, and without any doubt, the experienced and competent instructor remains the key for a successful learning.”

As far as standardisation of VR trainers is concerned, Kammerait believes that this ultimately depends on whether a training company is seeking to develop its own training content or partnering with or licensing content from existing platforms. “If going it alone, the required skills can include everything from application development to 3D modelling and animation, to user experience design and adaptive learning systems. These skills allow for the creation of new apps and content ‘from scratch’ – essentially unlocking limitless potential in terms of brand-new content and courseware,” he said. “However, since most organisations and even training institutions may not have all or any of these skills on staff today, the more common approach would be to partner with one or more tech providers (one for hardware and one for software, for example), who can provide platforms, frameworks, and foundations that can be built upon with a more traditional set of skills and experiences.”

Kammerait believes that in the end any player in VR training in aviation is facing some kind of an uphill battle. “But if we work together as an industry, across traditional boundaries and leveraging the skills, experience, and capabilities that everyone can bring to the table, we will all be in a much better position to unlock the potential of VR and deliver value for ourselves, but even more critically, for our customers and the flying public,” he concluded.

Image credit: Airbus.