Manufacturing solid robots to support the assembly of aircraft wings instead of humans

Although the current jets are all equipped with the most advanced technology, sometimes during the assembly process still use the methods from the 18th century which require a lot of manual labor with hand skills high profession. To overcome that, the Fraunhofer Institute of Engineering and Assembly Technology (IWU) in Chemnitz, Germany has built a solid robot capable of assembling aircraft wings , especially in small areas that are difficult to access or too complicated. Researchers hope to use 21st-century technologies to assemble aircraft instead of obsolete technology.

Airbus plans to triple the airline traffic by 2030. At that time, each major airport will handle nearly half a million other operations a day and it is estimated that the current aircraft assembly method will not be able to meet the demand for new aircraft production. The only solution to this problem is to automate the aircraft assembly process . However, the previous technique still encountered difficulties when assembling aircraft wing parts because the robotic arms were too short, unable to assemble details within a range of more than 5 meters inside the wing.

The wings of modern aircraft generations are not simply a metal plate protruding from the fuselage. It is a complex set of details such as fuel tanks, hydraulic systems, power cables, supporting motors, extra wings, flaps, frames, braces, supports and beams. . As a result, all the above components must be fully hand-assembled by the hands of workers from drilling holes, bolting bolts, nuts and mounting of each coupling.

Simulate how solid robots work when working in tight positions inside the wings of an airplane

Needless to say, it is not only a time-consuming, extremely difficult job to complete and the working environment adversely affects human health. Even in the instructions for installation and maintenance of aircraft, there are detailed instructions on positions and measures for workers to be able to wriggle and crawl to reach the necessary positions. Therefore, aircraft manufacturers often need to recruit people of small stature in order to be able to work in tight spaces, such as airplane wings.

And the solution offered by Fraunhofer Academy to solve the problem is a 60kg robot designed in the shape of a snake. The body of the robot is assembled from 8 parts by joints with a total length of 2.5 meters. The first part of the "solid robot" is equipped with a hand and a dedicated camera. According to Fraunhofer researchers, the special feature of solid robots is the exclusive gear system with motors capable of creating 500Nm of torque integrated into each part of the robot body. 8 sections are combined together by wire and crane system, allowing each part to be independently moved and rotated 90 degrees.

Marco Breitfeld, head of the project at Fraunhofer, said: "The robot is made up of 8 parts that are connected together and can move flexibly to reach the deepest positions inside the wing. That's why Why do we often call the robot system a machine snake? "

Recently, solid robots have undergone mechanical design and performance tests. Under the plan, engineers will officially demonstrate the capabilities of the solid robot at the Auto Commercial Machine Exhibition held in Munich from June 3 next. The next phase of the project is to design a robot operating system on a mobile platform or a rail that allows it to further advance to the locations in the wing. As planned, the robot models will be officially put into widespread use later this year.