RMCI, a Huntsville, Ala.-based company specializing in helicopter health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) and helicopter flight data monitoring (HFDM), is here promoting its Krēnō analysis software program. Also on display and designed for use with Krēnō is RMCI's lightweight expandable rotorcraft diagnostic system (XRDS).

Krēnō is scheduled to enter service soon with an unidentified large-fleet operator. It provides a streamlined interface and faster processing of data for monitoring both vibration (revealing aircraft health) and flight parameters (revealing how the aircraft is flown), according to the company. The software can also be used with HUMS hardware made by other manufacturers.

The XRDS is expected to be STC’d on the Airbus Helicopters AS350 AStar, Bell 407 and Bell 206 singles in the middle of this year. XRDS is shown here in its latest form factor, about two-thirds the size of the previous iteration.

Using Krēnō with XRDS offers significant speed advantages over other systems, RMCI CEO Ken Speaks told AIN. “Downloading takes seconds, as opposed to minutes,” he said, adding that the subsequent data interpretation is much faster with Krēnō as well. By combining HUMS and HFDM analysis, Krēnō can allow operators to identify at precisely which point during the flight a particular defect appeared, he said.

Krēnō can also open new avenues for monitoring the health of a helicopter. RMCI or the customer operator can create new indicators, shedding light on, for example, a correlation between gear damage and a particular vibration pattern. “This significantly empowers the operator,” Speaks said.

RMCI’s XRDS weighs less than five pounds, including sensors, according to Speaks, and its price is said to make it affordable for light twins and even singles. For its new onboard system, RMCI is developing “a new patent-pending approach for detecting cracks and monitoring propagation,” he added.

Speaks and RMCI engineer Lance Antolick will present a safety case for HUMS at one of the HAI Rotor Safety Challenge sessions tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. in Level III South in the Orange County Convention Center.