Low-Cost Automation for Aircraft Assembly

Kihlman, Henrik; Ossbahr, Gilbert; Engström, Magnus; Anderson, John

doi:10.4271/2004-01-2830

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…3, right): namely to measure as close to the product as possible or even on the product itself. This concept for flexible, reconfigurable fixturing was developed for the aircraft industry in collaboration with SAAB Aerostructures, Sweden [8]. This type of reasoning is not unique to the ART concept, however; dedicated fixtures may also be built in this manner, often by using shimming to achieve desired position, a process which is often iterative, time-consuming and requires skilled personnel.…”

Section: The Affordable Reconfigurable Tooling Conceptmentioning

confidence: 98%

Aspects of reconfigurable and flexible fixtures

Jonsson

Ossbahr

2010

Prod. Eng. Res. Devel.

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The design and manufacture of fixtures and other dedicated tooling for positioning of workpieces are among the major cost drivers in product industrialization. This has spurred research and commercial interest towards other fixturing solutions like reconfigurable fixtures, with the ability to be changed, or ''reconfigured'', to suit different parts and products. When reconfiguring, the product interface not only has to be moved but moved to a desired position and orientation. Several different approaches have been used to move and position these devices, all with their own advantages and disadvantages. This article presents different methods used to position and reconfigure flexible fixture devices using a parallel kinematic device as a case. Discussing the different ways to reconfigure a flexible device, the article aims to arrange the techniques according to their key features.

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Section: The Affordable Reconfigurable Tooling Conceptmentioning

confidence: 98%

Aspects of reconfigurable and flexible fixtures

Jonsson

Ossbahr

2010

Prod. Eng. Res. Devel.

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“…Furthermore, Kihlman developed a method to correct the assembly deformation of a large fuselage panel through using the laser tracker to obtain the dimensional variations of components. By connecting the laser tracker to the robot control system, the detecting information could be used to compensate for the lack of accuracy (Kihlman, 2004). In a practice reported by Müller et al, the laser tracker was used to obtain kinematic parameters of the handling modules and the positions of the components in an alignment system consisting of multiple robotic arms (Müller et al, 2013).…”

Section: The Progress Of the Digital Measurement Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An MBD based framework for relative position accuracy measurement in digital assembly of large-scale component

Duan

Shen

2019

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Purpose This paper aims to promote the integration of the relative position accuracy (RPA) measurement and evaluation in digital assembly process by adopting the model-based method. An integrated framework for RPA measurement is proposed based on a model-based definition (MBD) data set. The study also aims to promote the efficiency of inspection planning of RPA measurement by improving the reusability and configurability of the inspection planning. Design/methodology/approach The works have been carried out on three layers. In the data layer, an extended MBD data set is constructed to describe the objects and data for defining RPA measurement items; In definition layer, a model based and hierarchical structure for RPA item definition is constructed to support quick definition for RPA measurement items. In function layer, a toolset consisting three modules is constructed in a sequence from measurement planning to RPA value solving to visualized displaying again. Based on this framework, a prototype system is developed. Findings The paper provides an identified practice of model-based inspection. It suggests that MBD is valuable in promoting both the integration and efficiency of digital inspection. Research limitations/implications The templates and constructed geometry objects given in this paper are still limited in a scenario of aircraft assembly. The integrity and universality of them still need follow-up works. Practical implications The paper includes implications for the model based digital inspection, the digital assembly and the extended application of MBD. Originality/value This paper expands the application of MBD in inspection and fulfils the need to promote the integration and efficiency of digital inspection in large-scale component assembly.

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“…When the standard robot or industrial robot is taken as the positioner, the laser tracker system can be utilized to compensate for the lack of accuracy. It means that the robot is controlled with information from the laser tracker and a reference value (Kihlman et al, 2004;Sunnanbo et al, 2003). In an alignment system which consists of multiple robotic arms, the kinematic parameters of the handling modules and the positions of the components can be obtained by using a laser tracker (Müller et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new boresighting method of the aircraft gun using a laser tracker

Wang

Huang

et al. 2015

Sensor Review

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to propose an innovative method to extend the operating range of the laser tracking system and improve the accuracy and automation of boresighting by designing a measurement instrument. Boresighting is a process that aligns the direction of special equipment with the aircraft reference axis. Sometimes the accurate measurement and adjustment of the equipment and the aircraft are hard to achieve. Design/methodology/approach -The aircraft is moved by an automatic adjustment system which consists of three numerical control positioners. For obtaining the position of the bore axis, an instrument with two measurement points is designed. Based on the multivariate normal distribution hypothesis, an uncertainty evaluation method for the aiming points is introduced. The accuracy of the measurement point is described by an uncertainty ellipsoid. A compensation and calibration method is proposed to decrease the effect of manufacturing error and deflection error by the finite element analysis. Findings -The experimental results of the boresighting measurement prove that the proposed method is effective and reliable in digital assembly. The measurement accuracy of the angle between the bore axis and the reference axis is about Ϯ0.004°. In addition, the measurement result is mainly influenced by the position error of the instrument. Originality/value -The results of this study will provide a new way to obtain and control the installation deviation of part in aircraft digital assembly and will help to improve the precision and efficiency. This measurement method can be applied to obtain the axis of a deep blind hole.

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Low-Cost Automation for Aircraft Assembly

Cited by 18 publications

References 7 publications

Aspects of reconfigurable and flexible fixtures

Aspects of reconfigurable and flexible fixtures

An MBD based framework for relative position accuracy measurement in digital assembly of large-scale component

A new boresighting method of the aircraft gun using a laser tracker

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