Flatirons Solutions and Cortona3D Partner to Make Aircraft Maintenance More Interactive

Flatirons Solutions and Cortona3D are pleased to announce the integration of Cortona3D Solo rendering technology with the CORENA Pinpoint and CORENA Pinpoint Mobile Interactive Electronic Technical Publication (IETP) viewers.

CORENA Pinpoint and CORENA Pinpoint Mobile by Flatirons Solutions are the aviation industry’s most advanced manufacturer-independent IETP viewers, allowing maintainers to access airframe, engine, and component manuals and work cards from a wide array of manufacturers. By providing a single source for all of the technical information needed to perform maintenance and repair work, the products deliver strong productivity gains for aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs).

Cortona3D Solo is part of Cortona3D’s RapidAuthor solution and is also used by third-party software developers like Flatirons to enable viewing of 3D data that has been integrated into technical publications. Cortona3D Solo provides 3D model rendering functionality for desktop and mobile devices and uses lightweight JavaScript and WebGL / HTML5 technologies in place of cumbersome plug-ins. Cortona3D Solo is used in a range of large asset industries beyond aviation, including marine, energy, automotive, machinery and others.

Airlines do not need to create new 3D models to take advantage of this solution. 3D models often created by OEMs using Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacturing solutions like AutoCAD, Solid Edge, or CATIA are converted into lightweight 3D data and published alongside the S1000D XML as part of technical content supplied to airlines as part of new generation aircraft.

The integration of CORENA Suite and Cortona3D technologies brings together the industry’s leading OEM-independent technical information viewer with the world’s most advanced solution for displaying 3D models. By providing technical publications and work cards that are enriched with 3D assets, the joint solution brings dramatic usability and ergonomic improvements to AMTs.

3D is increasingly important both for manufacturers, who want to create more interactive documentation, and for operators, who want to better empower maintenance staff in their complex work. As part of this integration, CORENA Pinpoint and Cortona3D models will support advanced features like:

• Synchronization between 3D objects and the procedural text so that as the user navigates the 3D model the viewer shows relevant task execution details, ensuring that the most appropriate information is always shown to the user.
• Navigation of technical publications using 3D models, as an alternative to traditional Table of Contents or search-based navigation, including the Illustrated Parts Catalog (IPC) and maintenance manuals.
• Support for task-related animations for modeling complex procedures like assembly/disassembly in a more intuitive manner than 2D renderings can permit.
• Features for 3D model interactivity, including user-driven options for rotating, zooming and selecting specific components or parts from a 3D model.

As the aviation industry grapples with a growing skills shortage, there is an increasing need for maintenance teams to match the level of interactivity and convenience of consumer software when delivering technical information to new generation workers. The combined CORENA Pinpoint / Cortona3D offer helps both airlines and manufacturers meet this requirement.