Red Menace NDT at the NCMS Sustainment Accelerator – Tech That Blew Us Away - Ultrasonic of Composites

A couple of weeks ago, Red Menace NDT had the opportunity to attend the NCMS Sustainment Accelerator in North Carolina.

Let us be clear—this isn’t a sales pitch. We don’t get paid or receive any kickbacks for what we’re about to share. We simply want to highlight some of the incredible technology we witnessed during the event. Even with our team’s global experience in NDT, some of these innovations were unlike anything we’ve seen before. It genuinely gets us excited about where NDT is heading.

We were there to support our colleagues at LoneStar NDE Innovations, who were showcasing their new multi-method collaborative robot for NDT inspections. We’ve had the chance to work with them behind the scenes as “practical guinea pigs,” offering feedback and ideas to help shape a machine that both technicians and engineers would actually want to use. Now, their project is in full swing—and it’s impressive.

Here’s what stood out:

-Fast, intuitive setup for scan planning

-High accuracy and rapid inspection speed

-An integrated camera for automatic detection and scan region setup

-Swappable heads that support Pulse Echo, Phased Array, Resonance, and Eddy Current Testing

-C-scan visualization plus 3D modeling of parts and detected defects

And now for the part that floored us:

 They’ve demonstrated the ability to detect certain discontinuities through foam in composite materials. Yes—through foam. We didn’t believe it at first either, but they showed us the proof several months ago, and we were stunned. The photo is their C-Scan and the parameters of that test.

If that piques your curiosity, check them out at www.LSNDE.com or visit their LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lonestar-nde-innovations

Stay tuned—we’ll be sharing more of the cutting-edge NDT tech we saw at the event in the coming weeks.