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Equipment used in aerospace non-destructive inspection presents opportunity for modernization. Many inspection cells in production operate using a widely available control system software that is suitable for most inspection applications with minimal customization. The size and complex geometry of airframe components demand more application-specific system design to ensure the reliability and cycle time required for an aerospace production schedule. Ordinary inspection systems require manual teaching for program generation and lack datum-finding systems required to rerun programs without modification. Integration of offline programming software and machine vision instruments can save inspection technicians hours or shifts per part by eliminating the need for program retraining due to variation in part delivery position. Modernized inspection cells will reduce labor burden on technicians and provide reliable cycle time information to production planners.

As the aerospace industry moves toward determinate assembly and ever-tighter manufacturing tolerances, there is a need for automated, high-precision milling, trimming and drilling equipment that is specialized for aerospace applications. Precision countersinking is a common requirement for aircraft parts, but this is not a process that typical general-purpose milling machines are able to accommodate without the use of specialty tools such as depth-stop tool holders. To meet this need, Electroimpact has designed a 5-axis milling machine with high-speed clamping capability for countersink depth control. A custom trunnion and head with a quill and an additional clamp axis provide clamping functionality similar in speed and precision to a riveting machine, while maintaining the accuracy and features of a conventional machining center.

The rising demand for civil aircraft leads to the development of flexible and adaptive production systems in aviation industry. Due to economic efficiency, operational accuracy and high performance these manufacturing and assembly systems must be technologically robust and standardized. The current aircraft assembly and its jigs are characterized by a high complexity with poor changeability and low adaptability. In this context, the use of industrial robots and standardized jigs promise highly flexible and accurate complex assembly operations. This paper deals with the flexible and adaptable aircraft assembly based on industrial robots with special end-effectors for shaping operations. By the development and use of lightweight gripper system made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics the required scaling, robustness and stiffness of the whole assembly system can be realized.

In the civil aircraft industry there is a continuous drive to increase the aircraft production rate, particularly for single aisle aircraft where there is a large backlog of orders. One of the bottlenecks is the wing assembly process which is largely manual due to the complexity of the task and the limited accessibility. The presented work describes a general wing build approach for both structure and systems equipping operations. A modified build philosophy is then proposed, concerned with large component pre-equipping, such as skins, spars or ribs. The approach benefits from an offloading of the systems equipping phase and allowing for higher flexibility to organize the pre-equipping stations as separate entities from the overall production line. Its application is presented in the context of an industrial project focused on selecting feasible system candidates for a fixed wing design, based on assembly consideration risks for tooling, interference and access.

This paper presents an innovative solution of portable drilling machine, lightweight and low cost, dedicated to drilling operations on single and double curved aircraft structure. Aircraft Standard drilling process mainly uses drilling templates combined with Automated Drilling Units (ADU) which is a very efficient solution. However, the management of templates and ADUs is a time consuming and costly task in regards to the large quantity of existing references spread over every aircraft production sites. Therefore, to help reducing those costs and also workload, the concept of the Numerical Template (NCT) has been designed, using classic and robust mechanical devices, hand-held, lightweight and universal. NCT architecture concept could led to a family of NCT with different dimensions of frame parts(X,Y,Z), fitted to the targeted area geometry. The system is able to guaranty an accuracy of ± 0.5 mm and a normality of ±0.5°.

Flex Track Drilling systems have been successfully implemented into several production environments and scenarios over the past couple of years. They continue to see a high demand where traditional machine tool implementations might be prohibitive due to cost or existing jig structures. This demand for innovation has led to a unique Flex Track design termed an Offset Flex Track that not only works between the vacuum rails, but can work beyond the envelope of the rails. This allows the machine to be used in situations such as the leading edge of wings where the vacuum rails cannot straddle the work envelope. The next evolution of this Offset machine is the introduction of final fastener installation onto the head using an onboard rivet gun. In addition, the camera used to locate datum points on the fuselage is now integrated into the nose piece, eliminating the need for a tool change to a spindle mounted camera.

Variability in composite manufacture and the limitations in positional accuracy of common industrial robots have hampered automation of assembly tasks within aircraft manufacturing. One way to handle geometry variations and robot compliancy is to use force control. Force control technology utilizes a sensor mounted on the robot to feedback force data to the controller system so instead of being position driven, i.e. programmed to achieve a certain position with the tool, the robot can be programmed to achieve a certain force. This paper presents an experimental case where a compliant rib is aligned to multiple surfaces using force feedback and an industrial robot system from ABB. Two types of ribs where used, one full size carbon fiber rib, and one smaller metal replica for evaluation purposes. The alignment sequence consisted of several iterative steps and a search procedure was implemented within the robot control system.

This paper will present the latest development of a configurable and modular steel construction system for use in frameworks of flexible fixtures of the kind called Affordable Reconfigurable Fixtures (ART). Instead of a dedicated aircraft fixture, which is very time consuming and expensive, the ART fixtures enable affordable construction from a standard component kit, by solving the main drawbacks of traditional tooling. In early 2009 Airbus UK built the first steel modular fixture for the aerospace industry. The project was a partnership with DELFOi and Linköping University in a project called ReFlex, Reconfigurable Flexible Tooling. A paper was presented in the last year SAE conference which explained about the project in overall. The construction system called BoxJoint has recently been tested in some manufacturing areas at Airbus UK and also been applied in the production at Saab Aerospace Linköping Sweden.

Electroimpact has developed a new Fastener Feed System which provides an automated solution for fasteners previously hand fed via drop tubes. The hardware is simple, compact, and is supplied a fraction of the cost of hoppers or cartridges. It can be used as a primary feed system or it can be used as an auxiliary feed system when combined with feed systems designed for high quantities of fasteners. We have installed this system on the A380 Stage 0 LVER lower panel wing machines and feed 5 diameters, 10 grips each, for a total of 50 different fastener types. This system moves 547 total fasteners per ship set from manual feed to automatic feed, saving considerable build time.

This paper describes work being conducted by OC Robotics and Airbus to develop snake-arm robots to conduct assembly tasks within wing boxes - an area currently inaccessible for automation. The composite, single skin construction of aircraft structures presents new assembly challenges. Currently during box close-out it is necessary for aircraft fitters to climb into the wing box through small access panels and use manual or power tools to perform a variety of tasks. In future wing designs it may be that certain parts of the wing do not provide adequate access for manual assembly methods. It is also known that these manual interventions introduce health and safety concerns with their associated costs. Snake-arm robots provide a means to replace manual procedures by delivering the required tools to all areas of the wing box. Such a development has broader implications for aircraft design and assembly.

The 787 Section 11 Assembly Cell is a combination fixed post and moving frame holding and indexing system, designed to determinately build the 787 Section 11 Wing box. The retractable overhead frame allows maximum clearance for safer and faster loading and unloading of component parts, as well as completed wingbody sections. Additionally, each index is also retractable allowing maximum fastener access inside the jig.

A new Low-Voltage Electromagnetic Riveting (LVER) machine has entered service at the Airbus UK wing factory in Broughton, Wales, in an assembly workcell for A320 family wing panels. The machine is based on existing Electroimpact technology but incorporates numerous design modifications to process tools, fastener feed hardware, machine structure and the control system. In the first months of production these modifications have demonstrated clear improvements in fastener installation cycle times and machine reliability.

The Airbus A400m has carbon fibre wing panels on both the upper and lower surfaces. When manufactured, these panels come supplied with various lugs on the periphery of the panel. Some are used for lifting the panel, some are used for indexing the panel; however, all lugs must be removed at some time during wing build. Lug thickness varies from 4mm to 14mm; in addition, many lugs must be cut to a 2D profile rather than just straight. The main challenge of the project was to deliver a tool that was small, portable and compact, but that could also accurately slot thick carbon fibre panels, without de-lamination, leaving a good surface finish. The solution was an air powered routing hand tool that was mechanically guided along a 2D path using a cam profile. Special diamond grit cutters were used to cut the initial slot and reduce the machining forces to a bare minimum, with the finishing cut done using a PCD router bit to obtain a good surface finish.

Boeing's wholly owned subsidiary in Australia, Hawker de Havilland produces all ailerons for the Boeing 737 family of aircraft. Increasing production rates required to meet market demand drove the requirements for a new updated approach to assembly of these parts. Using lean principals, a pulsed flow line approach was developed. A component of this new line is the integration of a flexible robotic drilling/trimming system. The new robotic system is required to meet aggressive tack time targets with high levels of reliability. The selected system was built on a Kuka KR360-2 conventional articulated arm robot. A significant challenge of this project was the requirement for the process head to work efficiently on an aileron in an existing jig. As a result a new side-mounted drill and trim end effector was developed. Automated tool changers for both cutters and pressure foot assemblies eliminated the requirement for in- process manual intervention.

Electroimpact, in cooperation with a large airframe manufacturer, has developed Automated Fiber Placement equipment capable of depositing material at speeds in excess of 2000 inches per minute. As the machine lays down each new ply of material, the area forward to machine motion is heated just in advance of pressing the tape against the substrate. A fast-reacting, high-power infrared emitter heats this area quickly and safely. The design of these heaters is the subject of this paper.

Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) equipment has been developed capable of laying fiber in excess of 2000 inches per minute on full-size, complex parts. Two such high-speed machines will be installed for production of a nose section for a large twin-aisle commercial aircraft fuselage at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas along with a rotator for the fuselage mandrel. The problem of cutting and adding on the fly at these speeds requires thorough re-evaluation of all aspects of the technology, including the mechanical, controls, servos systems, and programming systems. Factors to be considered for high speed cut and add on the fly are discussed.

A large free-standing structure is constructed to positively position the spar and related components in the major assembly jig of the wing for a military transport aircraft. The beam of this structure is mounted on mechanisms enabling the lateral retraction of the beam and tooling to provide full part loading access and extraction of a completed wing. The free-standing nature of this design also allows full integration of an automated drilling machine into the jig.

This paper describes work being conducted by OC Robotics and Airbus to develop snake-arm robot technology suitable for conducting automated inspection and assembly tasks within wing boxes. The composite, single skin construction of aircraft structures presents new challenges for robotic assembly. During box close-out it is necessary for aircraft fitters to climb into the wing box through a small access panel and use manual or power tools to perform a variety of tasks. These manual interventions give rise to a number of health and safety concerns. Snake-arm robots provide a means to replace manual procedures by delivering the required tools to all areas of the wing box. The advantages of automating in-wing processes will be discussed. This paper presents early stage results of the demonstration snake-arm robot and outlines expectations for future development.

A custom 5-axis machine tool is constructed to enable fully automated drilling and slave-bolt insertion of composite and metallic wingbox components for a new military transport aircraft. The machine tool can be transported to serve many assembly jigs within the cell. Several features enhance accuracy, capability, and operator safety.

The Boeing Company (Renton Division) had a requirement for a 30,000 RPM spindle to provide improved surface finish when milling 2034 ice box rivets in hydraulic wing riveters. Electroimpact supplied an electrical spindle which fit into the same cylinder block as the hydraulic spindle. This was reported in SAE Paper #2000-01-3017. Boeing Renton has also now put Electroimpact 20,000 RPM electric drilling spindles into five wing riveting machines so now both spindles in the machine are Electroimpact electric spindles. The electric drill spindle features an HSK 40C holder. Both spindles are powered by the same spindle drive which is alternately connected to the drill and then the shave spindle.