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Manual drilling and Lockbolt installation in carbon fiber structures is a labor intensive process. To reduce man hour requirements while concurrently improving throughput and process quality levels BROETJE-Automation developed a gantry positioning system with high performance multi-function end effectors for this application. This paper presents a unique solution featuring fully automated drilling and Lockbolt installation (inclusive of automated collar installation) for the vertical tail plane (vertical stabilizer) of large commercial aircraft. A flexible and reconfigurable assembly jig facilitates high access of the end effectors and increases the equipment efficiency. The described system fulfils the demand for affordable yet flexible precision manufacturing with the capacity to handle different aircraft model panels within the work envelope.

Manual drilling in carbon fiber and mixed material structures is a labor and cost intensive process. Therefore, the aircraft manufacturers are constantly investigating flexible and cost-effective automation solutions to improve their production solutions. These objectives inspire us, as a supplier of aircraft assembly equipment, to develop robot and end-effector technologies to fulfill the customer's requirement for a highly accurate, robotic based drilling system for varying aerospace applications. This paper presents an innovative robot cell for drilling different aircraft parts consisting of CFRP and aluminum. The required absolute positioning accuracy is reached by using a proprietary compensation package for the robot that was developed by BROETJE-Automation. The new robot cell is based on a scalable system configuration which provides for the future extension of the work envelope and the integration of automated blind fastening.

The demand of flexible and cost-efficient solutions for automated fastening systems inspired us to develop the robot and end-effector technology to fulfil the customer's requirement for a highly accurate, automated robot based drill and fastening system for an aerospace application. This paper describes an innovative robot cell for drilling and solid riveting installation in cargo door structures of a single aisle aircraft at EUROCOPTER in Germany. The required absolute positioning accuracy is reached by using a special compensation package for the robot that was developed by BROETJE-Automation. Our customer's application required a completely new type of end-effector; installing solid rivets and capable of operating within the inner structure of the cargo doors. This solution demonstrates how standard robots equipped with a mature compensation method by BROETJE-Automation resulted in a highly flexible and cost-efficient light weight automation response.