AUTOMATION IN AEROSPACE
Inc. (Minneapolis) in a process where mid- to smaller-sized robots act as a workholding on an assembly line, he noted. “The stringer is a structural component that goes on the
wings—it’s almost like the little I-beam,” Blanchette said. “For these large composite wings, they have to use composite stringers, which are cut, drilled and trimmed, because the composite molding process is not precise.” The PaR Sys- tems solution uses a few dozen robots to position and hold the wings for the cutting process using an overhead gantry- mounted KMT waterjet.
“Although some of these include further advancements in drilling and fastening technologies, such as clip-to-frame end-effectors, collar swage and nut spinning end-effectors, we are focused on the development of human-robot col- laboration [HRC] automation,” Friz added. HRC is focused on using safe, intelligent robotics, he said, to perform the repetitive and ergonomic challenging tasks alongside skilled labor.
The recently introduced FANUC M-900iB/280 and M-20iB/25 robots shown at FABTECH are designed with extremely rigid arms making them suitable for many applications in the aerospace industry.
Aerospace manufacturers also are using material handling
robots to manipulate parts into assembly or kitting, tracking the parts with the robots and tool management, he said. “Kit- ting is used when you need to get about three million parts into the assembly process per day,” Blanchette said. “They’re looking at making this more effi cient—the worst thing is when they put these parts into a kit, and there’s one missing.” Even more alternatives are on the horizon for automat-
ing aerospace, with additions of mobile robots and, more recently, collaborative robots that can work in close contact with humans. KUKA is addressing several new areas of au- tomation to meet the needs of the next generation materials and manufacturing processes of customers, Friz said.
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“In essence, HRC solutions allow the highly skilled labor that is found within the aerospace industry to continue to perform the required craftsmanship while allowing the robot perform the unwanted/unskilled tasks,” Friz said. “Furthermore, KUKA is focused on the introduction of mobile automa- tion. These applications are important when trying to achieve the customer’s vision of a fl exible assembly line as it allows for the reduction of typically unforeseen or obvious reoccurring costs. Mobile automation is a key ingredient to the Industry 4.0 philoso- phy and KUKA is excited to be a front runner of these types of technologies already today.” In recent months, any aspect of the manufacturing process is being evaluated by the customer base, Friz said. “KUKA is beginning to see many opportunities beyond structural build for automation in areas such as part fabrication, surface preparation, sys- tems installation, interiors manufactur-
ing and installation and logistics,” he said. “In most cases, reutilizing the current automation can address the majority of the new focus areas,” he added. “However, there are several topics that are driving new technology which will greatly increase the effi ciency of the manufacturing processes.”
Perfecting the Paint Process Automating the process of painting a full aircraft fuse-
lage remains a diffi cult task for aerospace builders, due to the sheer size of airframe fuselages and safety concerns. “The big ticket for Boeing and Airbus is to paint the actual entire airplane,” said Didier Rouaud, Global Business Development Manager, Paint Process Automation, ABB,
Image courtesy FANUC America Corp.
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