When aerospace companies build digital models of new aircraft, they often combine computer-aided design (CAD) files for individual parts into a single system. However, these combined models are frequently geometrically inconsistent, and correcting them to remove errors and unwanted features is a time-consuming, manual process.
Penn State Mechanical Engineering Professor David Williams, alongside mechanical engineering doctoral student Chun Sen Liu, is working to automate this process.
"The idea is that we would be leveraging AI and machine learning, along with some new mathematical techniques we've developed, to automate the repair process for these curves and surfaces," Williams said. "There's inconsistencies in these CAD models that people generate, and they need to be fixed prior to conducting serious analysis and moving the model forward in the development process."
Williams, who previously worked at Boeing, said that the problem is nearly ubiquitous across the aerospace sector, from small startups building aircraft for less than six people, to large aerospace companies developing large passenger or cargo planes.
Last fall, the research team participated in the Invent Penn State U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps regional short course program, where they conducted initial customer interviews, refined the problem they were solving, and began moving their idea toward commercialization.
"Our original idea was to introduce AI at the end of the design-analysis process to help companies manage and interpret large data sets," Williams said. "When we went through the regional I-Corps program and did preliminary customer discovery, everyone said, 'You know what I really need help with? This geometric repair issue and resolving these CAD defects.' That's the thing they are most concerned about, and that was the primary pivot in our business plan development."
The I-Corps regional short course provides experiential startup education and prepares researchers to apply for the NSF I-Corps National Teams program, which provides teams with a $50,000 grant to conduct more than 100 customer interviews over seven weeks.
Williams and Liu completed the NSF I-Corps National Teams program at the end of March, conducting more than 100 interviews with potential customers. They visited major aerospace companies on the West Coast, traveled to conferences across the country and held numerous virtual interviews. Liu said program instructors encouraged them to expand beyond academic and aerospace contacts to better understand broader business ecosystems.
"One thing we added to our value proposition during the national program is ensuring our software not only repairs inconsistencies but also fully preserves the original geometry," Liu said. "We spent the seven weeks validating what we thought we knew and uncovering details we hadn't previously considered. While we didn't make major pivots like we did in the regional program, we gained many important insights."
Williams said the next step is to continue developing the underlying technology and build a demonstration for potential customers. He encourages other researchers to participate in I-Corps - and to do so early.
"I think the purpose of programs like I-Corps is to engage while you're still in the early to mid-stages of development," Williams said. "You conduct interviews and still have the flexibility to pivot if needed. If you spend years building something and then realize the market wants something entirely different, it's much harder to change direction. It's better to get involved early so you can adapt without as much cost or effort."
Researchers interested in participating in the Invent Penn State NSF I-Corps regional short course must apply and complete a self-guided I-Corps Prep mini-course by Friday, May 22.
About NSF I-Corps
The NSF I-Corps program uses experiential education to help researchers gain valuable insight into entrepreneurship, starting a business or industry requirements and challenges. I-Corps enables the transformation of invention to impact. The curriculum integrates scientific inquiry and industrial discovery in an inclusive, data-driven culture driven by rigor, relevance and evidence. Through I-Corps training, researchers can reduce the time to translate a promising idea from the laboratory to the marketplace. Penn State is part of the NSF I-Corps Mid-Atlantic Hub, a network of universities, NSF-funded researchers, established entrepreneurs, local and regional entrepreneurial communities, and other federal agencies. Hubs work collaboratively to build and sustain a diverse and inclusive innovation ecosystem throughout the United States.
