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Offline programming and hardware simulation has been undergoing rapid and dramatic changes as software technologies have provided advanced capabilities. The application of simulation to verify specific autofastening operations has become a timesaving capability to maintain production rates as well as avoid costly collisions and subsequent downtime. Through the use of simulation, engineers can develop additional insight into the autofastening process, including useful parameters that affect maintenance, cost, and cycle time reductions. The work documented here outlines several advances that have been made including the software simulation methods developed and implemented, and the resulting operational benefit achieved. Specific areas that are covered include operation tracking and reporting, predictive wear for tooling, fastener-specific operations, tool path optimization.

This paper chronicles the events of the ACSYNT software development project, the formation of the ACSYNT Institute, and the commercialization effort leading to a corporate entity, Phoenix Integration, Inc. Through the cooperation of government, industrial and academic concerns, a unique, focused research and development effort was organized for the development of software tools to aid in the conceptual design of aircraft. The goals of this jointly-sponsored effort were to provide a standard, consistent, generic environment in which aircraft conceptual modeling and analysis could take place. The ACSYNT Institute provided a climate that was conducive to common R&D goals, formation of non-proprietary solutions and joint research efforts between government and industry. The resulting R&D direction, associated technology, and energized market provided the right ingredients for a commercialization effort.