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Over 1,200 large diameter holes must be drilled into the side-of-body join on a Boeing commercial aircraft's fuselage. The material stack-ups are multiple layers of primarily titanium and CFRP. Due to assembly constraints, the holes must be drilled for one-up-assembly (no disassembly for deburr). In order to improve productivity, reduce manual drilling processes and improve first-time hole quality, Boeing set out to automate the drilling process in their Side-of-Body join cell. Implementing an automated solution into existing assembly lines was complicated by the location of the target area, which is over 15 feet (4 meters) above the factory floor. The Side-of-Body Drilling machines (Figure 1) are capable of locating, drilling, measuring and fastening holes with less than 14 seconds devoted to non-drilling operations. Drilling capabilities provided for holes up to ¾″ in diameter through stacks over 4.5″ thick in a titanium/CFRP environment.

The use of paint automation in commercial aircraft production is being studied to reduce process cycle times, provide a higher quality paint finish, lower emissions, and increase process consistency. The cost of new aircraft paint hangars and increasing production rates is driving a need for increased capacity in existing facilities by using new coatings and technology. Testing of robotic painting at Boeing has uncovered unique differences between aerospace and automotive applications. Paint cure times, number of paint colors, environment control, and part size considerations are some of the issues that make aerospace application of coatings more difficult than automotive applications. Understanding the unique factors involved in the robotic application of commercial aerospace coatings is important for future advancements in application technology, gains in aircraft paint hangar capacity, delivering quality coating finishes, and lowering environmental footprint.

A new automated production system for installation of Lightweight Groove Proportioned (LGP) and Hi-Lock bolts in wing panels has been implemented in the Boeing 737 wing manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington. The system inserts LGP and Hi-Lok bolts into interference holes using a ball screw mechanical squeeze process supported by a back side rod-locked pneumatic clamp cylinder. Collars are fed and loaded onto a swage die retaining pin, and swaging is performed through ball screw mechanical squeeze. Offset and straight collar tools allow the machine to access 99.9% of fasteners in 3/16″, ¼″ and 5/16″ diameters. Collar stripping forces are resolved using a dynamic ram inertial technique that reduces the pull on the work piece. Titanium TN nuts are fed and loaded into a socket with a retaining spring, and installed on Hi-Loks Hi-Lok with a Bosch right angle nut runner.

The Boeing Company has developed a mobile robotic drilling and fastening system for use in assembly processes on the lower panel of a horizontally fixtured wing. The robotic system, referred to as Lower-panel Drilling and Fastening System (LPDFS), was initially developed as part of an initiative to minimize facilities costs by not requiring costly foundation work. It is designed to operate with a high level of autonomy, minimizing operator intervention, including that required for machine setup and tool changes. System design enables positioning the work piece at a lower ergonomic height for concurrent manual processes. In all aspects of design, the system will maintain maximum flexibility for accommodating future manufacturing changes and increases in production rate, while meeting the strict accuracy requirements characteristic of aircraft manufacturing.

Large diameter, tightly toleranced fastener patterns are commonplace in aerospace structures. Satisfactory generation of these holes is often challenging and can be further complicated by difficult or obstructed access. Bespoke tooling and drill jigs are typically used in conjunction with power feed units leading to a manual, inflexible, and expensive manufacturing process. For 777X flap production, Boeing and Electroimpact collaborated to create a novel, automated solution to generate the fastener holes for the main carrier fitting attachment pattern. Existing robotic automation used for skin to substructure assembly was modified to utilize extended length (up to 635mm), bearing-supported drill bar sub-assemblies. These Long Assembly Drills (LADs) had to be easily attached and detached by one operator, interface with the existing spindle(s), supply cutting lubricant, extract swarf on demand, and include a means for automatically locating datum features.