eVTOL pioneer Beta Technologies selects GPMS for condition monitoring pilot

GPMS announced today that its Foresight Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) has been selected by Beta Technologies for a demonstration pilot on Beta's pioneering eVTOL rotorcraft.

The installation of Foresight MX on the Beta platform will enable Beta to reduce operational costs through advanced notification of impending maintenance requirements while adhering to budget, space and weight constraints of operators. Additionally, Beta engineers will be able to remotely monitor their rotorcraft, accessing data and analytics for advanced diagnostics and predictive maintenance.

The GPMS Foresight MX system, provides mechanical diagnostics and prognostics, including engine performance monitoring, exceedance monitoring, flight regime recognition, automated data acquisition, and optimization solutions for rotor, track and balance. Foresight MX weighs a fraction of legacy systems and provides automatic alerting through email and SMS and an intuitive, simple user interface accessible through a standard web browser on a laptop, desktop, tablet or cell phone. Additionally, Beta engineers will be able to monitor their rotorcraft, accessing data and analytics for advanced diagnostics and predictive maintenance.

"eVTOLs share with traditional helicopters the need to understand and continuously evaluate the health and condition of key mechanical systems," said GPMS CEO and Chief Engineer, Eric Bechhoefer. "We are excited to enter this market with Beta." Short for "Vertical Take Off and Landing," the VTOL market is rapidly expanding as companies seek to make flying air taxis a reality. eVTOL rotorcraft run on battery power rather than hydrocarbon fuel. The market encompasses aircraft flown by a human pilot in the cockpit as well as those flown autonomously. German consulting group Roland Berger predicts there could be as many as 98,000 flying by 2050.

The GPMS Foresight system helps maintainers and operators reduce unplanned downtime and improve reliability. Designed with a distributed architecture and built on the Amazon Web Services IoT cloud, the system is lightweight, provides rapid data acquisition, and is purpose built for the rotorcraft market. Foresight brings Predictive Maintenance capability to the HUMS category with a prognostic system that displays Remaining Useful Life on all monitored components.