Department Spotlight: Onboard Systems

The past year has seen a lot of exciting developments here at Ultramain, and you can't talk about those exciting developments without singling out one department in particular: Onboard systems. Under the aegis of Director Tim Spears, Onboard Systems has been going toe-to-toe with some real industry heavyweights... and coming out on top! Onboard Systems' name pretty much says it all-- the department is resonsible to the development of programs that are loaded directly onto aircraft. This, of course, includes the groundbreaking efbTechLogs and eReporting applications, the two applications which have gone live with KLM airlines this past year. According to developer Alex Smith, just because the deparment achieved a world-first with efbTechLogs, doesn't mean they're resting on their laurels. "We' re always adding cool new features," he says. One of the most exciting new features that the team is working on, is a 3D way of looking at defects. The idea is that a user can start with a full view of the cabin, and then select specific parts to view defects related to those parts. The user can zoom and rotate the view fully, in order to better find what they're looking for. Smith says this feature is generating a good deal of buzz. "The cabin crew really like it," he says. Even more impressive is that the Onboard Systems team has built this feature entirely from scratch! Another new efbTechLogs innovation that the team has been working on is an efbTechLogs browser. For this, Onboard Systems worked with Boeing to create an application that blended the functions of efbTechLogs and ULTRAMAIN v8, thus to create an easy-to-use tool for researching defects. In addition to these new features, the team has been working hard to update all its applications to work with Boeing's recently-released Blockpoint development platform. Also, they have developed a new "front end" interface for efbTechLogs, in order to work with Class II tablets. "We're always excited about new platforms to integrate with," says Smith. "It makes us more flexible." With everything going on with efbTechLogs, it's no wonder that, according to Smith, "a number of potential customers have been talking to KLM, gaguing the effects of the application." What about new products? Well, Onboard Systems is cooking a few of those up, as well! Coming up on the horizion is an application called efbCabinLogs, which will not only bring the same defect reporting tools to the world of cabin logs, but also give airlines a tool for managing passenger information. Another new application coming down the pipe- a Content Manager for onboard programs. This content manager is designed to help ground system personell to update onboard software quickly and automatically. By "dropping" a software update into the Content Manager, that update will be automatically relayed to all points where it is needed. Finally, one of the more interesting future applications the team is working on is an efbTechLogs application... for the iPhone! Using an iPhone's GPS system, maintenance personnel will be able to get a list of defects on an aircraft simply by walking up to the plane! The application will recognize the proximity, and display defects accordingly. The application will also give personell access to fleet-wide defect information. This new app is still in the early stages of development, so stay tuned for more details! It's clear that Onboard Systems has a lot percolating! Time to let them get back to work!