0000000000775176
AUTHOR
Bruce Cowan
Robotic geometric and volumetric inspection of high value and large scale aircraft wings
Increased demands in performance and production rates require a radical new approach to the design and manufacturing of aircraft wings. Performance of modern robotic manipulators has enabled research and development of fast automated non-destructive testing (NDT) systems for complex geometries. This paper presents recent outcomes of work aimed at removing the bottleneck due to data acquisition rates, to fully exploit the scanning speed of modern 6-DoF manipulators. The geometric assessment of the parts is carried out with a robotised dynamic laser scanner encoded through an absolute laser tracker. This method allows scanning speeds up to 330mm/s at 1mm pitch. State of the art ultrasonic ins…
Enabling robotic adaptive behaviour capabilities for new industry 4.0 automated quality inspection paradigms
The seamless integration of industrial robotic arms with server computers, sensors and actuators can revolutionise the way in which automated non-destructive testing (NDT) is performed and conceived. Achieving effective integration and realising the full potential of robotic systems presents significant challenges, since robots, sensors and end-effector tools are often not necessarily designed to be put together and form a holistic system. This paper presents recent breakthroughs, opening up new scenarios for the inspection of product quality in advanced manufacturing. Many years of research have brought to software platforms the ability to integrate external data acquisition instrumentatio…