AUTOMATION IN AEROSPACE
it affects the aircraft in a lot of different ways. The beauty of putting paint on an aircraft’s fuselage with robots is there’s a material savings of between 30 to 50% by doing it robotically, and that also means a 30–50% savings in weight as well.” That weight savings on fuselages translates directly to
increased fuel savings for airline customers, leading manu- facturers like Boeing to be keenly interested in shaving fuel costs by as little as half a percent to benefit their customers, Blanchette said. A number of FANUC automation integrators, including Encore Automation (Auburn Hills, MI) and Nordson Sealant Equipment (Plymouth, MI), have had successes developing new paint prep processes and sealing applica- tions for aircraft fuselages and other airframe components, he added. “For prep and paint, and sealing, you can’t have any gaps in the fuselage,” Blanchette said. “We’ve been working with Nordson Sealant Equipment, and they have some unique dispense tools that they’ve developed for the aerospace market that are compatible with the materials that the
industry is using, and the materials are very, very special to the aerospace industry, and you can’t just say ‘we want to dispense this material, put it on a robot, and dispense it.’ You have to have the right equipment for the dispensing part.” The system uses FANUC software, called Dispense Tool, Blanchette said, that gives it the precision that’s required for the sealing process of the assembly.
“The major automation challenge within the aerospace industry is simply the aircraft was never designed for an automated process.”
At Encore Automation, the integrator focuses on new methods that offer flexibility from the monument-type systems of the past, noted Art Scafe, Encore business and product development manager. “We’re working primarily in the areas of painting, sealing, material handling, and drilling/fastening,”
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