The Problem

A customer in the aerospace industry reached out to us to assist with their most recent project. This project was to add wifi antennas to the exterior of a variety of commercial planes. We, Applications 3D, were called in to help them gather the required data so they could create the wifi antennas for commercial planes.

Applications 3D’s first objective was to gather the 3D scan data of a variety of airplane fuselages. Furthermore, this data was gathered by traveling to numerous airports and scanning entire planes with the Surphaser scanner. Also, areas of interest were made sure to be scanned in the most detail and the entirety of the fuselage was scanned as well. This gathered data was then used to create a full CAD model. 

Design of the Wifi Antennas for Commercial Planes

The CAD models could now be used to design the antennas. As per the FAA, the location and shape are very important. They cant obstruct any view or disrupt airflow that can’t be disrupted. Many other rules regarding antennas that the FAA requires to be followed must be taken into consideration when creating these antennas as well. For example, another requirement is that there can’t be a gap that exceeds 0.020″ between the fuselage and the antenna. 

Thanks to our CAD data of the variety of planes, all of the requirements from the FAA can be met. The provided data is very accurate and allowed the customer to design the wifi antennas to fit seamlessly. These antennas could then be placed all around the fuselage to bring in the wifi signal and provide it to the people on board. 

Once the antenna base is designed, the prototypes can also be 3D scanned. This would be useful because the data gathered from that can then be digitally attached to the planes. If any issues were found the CAD model can then be changed to ensure the product fits perfectly, helping save money.