Development of Automation in Aerospace Industry

7/21/2019 Development of Automation in Aerospace Industry

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DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATION IN

AEROSPACE INDUSTRY (ASSEMBLY

PERSPECTIVE)

Bulon Ch. Hazarika, 15-22-308, CAD CAM & Automation, NIT Silchar, Assam

Abstract: Faced with ballooning

order backlogs, aerospace builders

and automation suppliers are

exploring new ways to automate a

broader range of aircraft

manufacturing processes. The goal isto deliver higher-volume commercial

aircraft like the Boeing 737 and 777

more quickly to customers, but also to

improve the consistency and safety of

the final product. To pick up the

production pace, manufacturers and

their suppliers are refining the

automation systems used for drilling,

filling and fastening operations and finding new opportunities for

automation.

INTRODUCTION:

The aerospace industry is known to be

very conservative. With thousands of

fastener locations that need to be

drilled and filled to complete a plane,

drilling and fastening remain thelargest area of opportunity for

automated robotics. With the help of

new developments the “Automation in

Aerospace” area has become more

interesting and attractive in the

research and development section of

aerospace/defense industries.

Assembly:

Assembly is inherently

integrative –

brings parts together

– brings people,

departments, companies

together

– can be the glue for

concurrent engineering

Assembly is where the productcomes to life

–

there aren’t many one-

part products

Assembly is where quality is

“delivered”

–

quality is delivered by

“chains” of parts, not by

any single most important

part



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Manual vs. Automated Assembly:

• People “just do it”

•

Machines can’t “just do it”

• It was hoped that robots could

“just do it”

• Early robot research focused on

imitating what people do

o behave flexibly

o

use their senses

o fix mistakes

The Benefits of Automation:

• Reduce Production Cost - A

quick return on investment(ROI) outweighs the initial

setup costs. All of the followingautomation advantages reduce

production cost.• Decrease in Part Cycle

Time - A leanmanufacturing line is crucial for

increasingefficiency. Robotics can work

longer and faster whichincreases production rate.

• Improved Quality and

Reliability - Automation is

precise and repeatable. Itensures the product is

manufactured with the samespecifications and process every

time. Repairs are few and far

between.

• Better Floor Space

Utilization - By decreasing a

footprint of a work area byautomating parts of your

production line, you can utilizethe floor space for other

operations and make the process

flow more efficient.

• Reduce Waste - Robots are soaccurate that the amount of raw

material used can be reduced,decreasing costs on waste.

• Saves Local Jobs - Instead of

moving your company to a

location with lower labor costs,incorporate automation in a few

key areas. This will increaseyour product through-put and

increase your profit so you cankeep your company in the

current location.

• Stay Competit ive - Reduction in

schedule and cost attracts

customers. Automation helps

provide the highest throughputwith least amount of

spending.

Robotics as a Driver for Assembly

Automation:

flexibility vs efficiency

generality vs specificity

responsiveness or adaptation vs

preplanning

absorption of uncertainty vs

elimination of uncertainty

lack of structure vs structure

https://www.robots.com/roi

https://www.robots.com/robotics/industrial-automation

https://www.robots.com/faq/show/how-do-robots-contribute-to-lean-manufacturing


https://www.robots.com/robots

https://www.robots.com/robots



https://www.robots.com/robotics/industrial-automation

https://www.robots.com/roi



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Why automation of assembly

processes in Aerospace Industry isnecessary?

Aerospace production is a relatively

slow, Low-volume, high-value process

compared to other manufacturing. The

‘volume’ demand is not the product

throughput, but rather the high number

of process steps required.

Therefore to overcome theabove problems we need automation

of assembly process in aerospace.

Problems faced in Aerospace

Industry:

Since in aerospace industry the production floor area is very large and

also the parts are very large in general

therefore automation of the whole area

in not fully possible in terms of

technical as well as cost point of view.

In aerospace industry the

production timeline for any process is

measured in days or weeks whereas inautomotive industry its measured in

seconds, so we do not have a robot

sitting idle for a week after its job is

done in automotive whereas its

opposite in case of aerospace.

Therefore it’s not going to provide a

good business case.

Therefore a lot of the demand in

aerospace industry is either for large-

scale systems that can automate an

entire process from end-to-end, or

smaller-scale systems that are flexible

enough so that they can be used for

different task in a process.

Steps being opted or taken for

overcoming the problems:

1.

Boings Big Dream:

In this instance, Boeing engineers are

opting for automated assembly.

According to one observer, this

optimization can go so far as to

eliminate the ability to produce the

parts manually.

An additional issue that influencesautomation allocation is assembler

reliability. Boeing can effectively

build the 787 with manual labor,

argues the observer, but not on days

when people perform poorly or fail to

show up for work. There are also

repetitive jobs with ergonomic risks

that can be addressed through

automation.

2: GKN Aerospace has also embarked

on a project to automate the assembly

of aircraft structures at its plant in

Redditch, England. The goal is to

create consistently high-quality wing



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structures 30 percent faster than is

possible today using manual

production processes.

State-of-the-art robotics technology

enables the project to be flexible

enough to assemble either fuselage or

wing structures. Production processes

being developed include lightweight

fixturing; reconfigurable tooling;

automated part positioning; assisted

deposition of sealant; metrology-

assisted robotics; lightweight fastening

heads for single-sided fasteners;

automated scanning for accurate

countersink drilling; and an automated

fastener inspection system.

3: Moving Massive Parts

Making aircraft production rates also

means eliminating some of the large

monument fixtures and minimizing the

time-consuming crane moves oftenrequired with large airframes. With the

latest automated guided vehicles

(AGV) from automation developer

Fori Automation Inc. (Shelby

Township, MI), aircraft builders can

lower costs associated with delays for

crane moves, while gaining precision

positioning with new servo-controlled

AGVs, which also include auto-leveling technology that helps ensure

accuracy.

Summary:

In the past couple of years, however,

the general attitude, in terms ofassembly tasks, has really changed. In

fact, a complete mentality switch has

been observed in the aerospace

industry. Aircraft assembly companies

like Boeing and Lockheed Martin tend

to use robotics for some of their

applications. Most of the tasks that

require precision and rigidity on big

parts are now executed by industrialrobots. Since aircraft programs last

from 10 to 30 years, the payback on a

simple assembly task can be very

beneficial. Industrial automation is

now essential for the aerospace

industry.

Thus now in aerospace industry

“Investing in automation is nowconsidered a necessity, rather than an

option.”

Reference:

1: A Driving Need for Design

Automation within Aerospace

Engineering by Smith, A.L. and

Bardell, N.S. (research paper)

2: SME advanced manufacturing

media group

3: Aerospace Mfg. education

4: Assembly magazine



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Development of Automation in Aerospace Industry