Group 8 – EI Aerospace

Aircraft maintenance on narrow body jets often forces technicians onto tall ladders and improvised stands, exposing them to chronic fall hazards and workflow delays; to resolve this issue we conceived, engineered, and validated a universal working platform that mates with the A320 engine cradle and adjusts to the aircraft service height when it is raised on jacks. Guided by the Double Diamond design framework, our team gathered ergonomic, regulatory, and logistical requirements through field observations, mechanic interviews, and benchmarking of commercial access equipment, then converted those insights into weighted design criteria covering safety, mobility, practicality, stability, and manufacturability. Seven concept families were generated and compared with decision matrices; the selected architecture couples a hydraulic scissor lift with a lightweight modular aluminum structure whose nonslip telescopic planks contour to the nacelle, and it rides on maintenance free casters for repositioning while transferring load to side wind leveling jacks during use. Finite element and stress analyses confirmed that plank bending, pin shear, platform floor stresses, and tipping margins meet OSHA walking and working surface standards with a conservative design factor; a complete Fusion 360 digital twin, bill of materials, and schedule validated that the platform can be fabricated within typical maintenance repair and overhaul cost and lead time constraints. The resulting system removes the need for ladders taller than a mechanic, offers rapid one person height adjustment and contour alignment, and incorporates guardrails, toe boards, harness anchors, and lift toe guards that outperform prevailing safety codes without sacrificing ease of transport or storage inside crowded hangars. By combining adaptability, operator safety, and straightforward fabrication, the design promises to streamline elevated engine tasks, reduce injury risk, and provide a scalable upgrade path for facilities that wish to modernize ground support infrastructure.