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Robots could refuel JSFs on the flight line

First, it was contactors doing airmen’s jobs.

Now, it’s robots.

The Air Force is trying to develop a robot that can refuel parked F-35 Lightning II fighters and hopes to start demonstration testing in 2010.

Researchers at Air Force Materiel Command’s Airbase Technologies Division on Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., were asked by Air Education and Training Command, the Air Force Petroleum Agency and the Naval Air Systems Command to develop an automated system to refuel parked Joint Strike Fighters.

According to Walt Waltz, the Robotics Group lead, aircraft ground refueling equipment has improved but the method of refueling has not changed much. “It is still a manual process that involves personnel handling the fuel supply hose, attaching and then detaching it,” Waltz said in an Air Force news release.

As envisioned by the Air Force, an operator will be able to refuel a parked JSF by pushing a button on a control console several hundred feet away from the fighter.

A moveable pipeline will follow the robot as it uses onboard sensors to steer itself to the jet. The guidance system will locate the fuel door, attach the fuel nozzle and begin fueling.

One operator will control several robots, and have the power to stop refueling if he spots trouble.

According to Waltz, during a recent demonstration, a vision-guided robot moved a refueling nozzle to an aircraft mock-up, located the single point refueling adapter and placed a refueling nozzle on the adapter.

“The system’s performance during the demonstration helped to prove that an autonomous robot is a feasible alternative to manual refueling,” Waltz said.