Human-Focused MRO Technologies

Eine Mechanikerin prüft ein Fluggerät
Credit:

DLR/Istock

The research area Human-Focused MRO Technologies is part of the department Maintenance and Repair Technologies. It addresses the role of humans within MRO environments by placing user needs and capabilities at the center of technological development, complementing and linking to other research activities in the institute.

Since aircraft maintenance is characterized by a high variability of tasks, tools and processes, complete automation is often not an option. Thus, many maintenance tasks are executed manually by humans. This research area explores human factors and user-centered requirements through methods like user studies, aiming to ensure that new systems are highly usable and align with the practical realities of the MRO environment. User acceptance, trust in new technologies and knowledge transfer are important objectives. Human-computer interaction plays a crucial role in enabling seamless communication between humans and digital systems. In addition, the digital transformation of MRO processes is examined.

Assistance systems supplying the right information to the worker in a usable way as well as assistance during task execution and documentation are thus important research fields. This research area contributes to shaping a human-centered technological landscape that supports the effective, safe, and future-proof performance of MRO operations.

Key Topics

User Centricity in MRO

  • Exploration of human factors and user-centered requirements through user studies
  • Development of assistance systems to support humans in MRO environments
  • Application of usability concepts to facilitate knowledge transfer and acceptance

Human-Computer-Interaction and XR

  • Enabling effective communication between humans and machines
  • Introduction of new interaction techniques for MRO specialized systems
  • Evaluation of potentials of new methods, software and hardware technologies

Digital Transformation in MRO

  • Transformation of tasks and documentation for sustainable use
  • Integration of spatial information to optimize context-dependent tasks
  • Generation of useful data, considering automatic processing and data consistency