Working
with Airbus, OC Robotics has completed build and initial testing of a
demonstration snake-arm robot capable of sealing, swaging and
inspecting the inside mock-up of an aircraft wing rib bay. The robot is
due to begin an intensive program of trials in the near future.
Compared
to the automotive industry, the aerospace industry has been slow to
introduce industrial robotics onto its assembly lines because of the
high accuracy needed over large structures. While robot devices
increase throughput, the tasks within rib bays and other confined
spaces inside aircraft structures have remained practically impossible,
until now. Unlike standard robots, snake-arm robots do not have
prominent ‘elbows’. They have a continuous curving shape, like a snake,
making them ideal for applications in confined or difficult to reach
spaces.
Airbus UK has been working with Kuka, a supplier of
industrial robots, to develop aerospace robots to deliver end effectors
capable of inspection, swaging and sealing. When approached by Airbus
to find a solution to low access automation, OC Robotics proposed a
snake-arm robot as an additional tool that the larger industrial robot
would deliver. The snake-arm robot acts as a flexible extension to the
industrial robot and is fed through the access hole by the Kuka robot.
The snake-arm can follow a path into the wing box using the Kuka as a
delivery tool.
The snake-arm robot has a wrist and tool
interface to attach to a variety of different tools designed by OC
Robotics. Initial tests show the arm is flexible enough to deliver the
required tools to areas of the wing box that were previously
inaccessible to automation, to perform tasks such as final sealant
application and swaging.
OC Robotics www.ocrobotics.com
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