Applications

Aerospace

Snake-arm robots are flexible in more ways than one and their versatility allows them to be useful in a wide range of situations. OC Robotics has been working with Airbus UK to develop a flexible robot system capable of conducting a variety of low access assembly tasks.

Video of the snake-arm robot conducting in-wing assembly tasks

Redefining industrial automation

OC Robotics has designed a prototype (left) which can demonstrate all the required tasks inside a mock-up of a rib bay. This shows a snake-arm robot Extender mounted on a Kuka industrial robot.

The demonstrator snake-arm has 10 segments, is 1800mm in length and 90mm in diameter. The hollow bore is 15mm. The complete system has 27 degrees of freedom. This gives the arm the flexibility to ‘follow its nose’ into the rib bay.

OC Robotics has developed proprietary software to enable offline programming linking to digitial manufacturing software such as Delmia v5.

The snake-arm robot can follow a path into the wing-box, either by joystick control or from a pre-determined library of paths. The arm can then move in 'Cartesian mode' either by joystick control or automatically using visual servoing to ensure it is correctly aligned before beginning each task. When applying sealant, a camera on the toolpiece tracks the line of the seam to ensure accurate and even application.

Tools and applications

The purpose of a snake-arm is to introduce tools or sensors into a confined space. In order to maximise the benefit of the snake-arm’s path-following capability, the diameter of the end effector's envelope must be equal to or less than the diameter of the snake-arm. The length of the end effector must also be minimised.

Three interchangeable end effectors have been designed by OC Robotics for the demonstrator:

• An inspection tool (pictured below left) containing a camera with high optical zoom giving high quality detailed views for checking build quality.
• A swage tool (pictured below centre) to swage a standard lockbolt and collect lockbolt tails, with cameras to allow automatic alignment of the tool nose with the bolt
• A sealant tool (pictured below right) incorporating a standard sized sealant cartridge and nozzle, with cameras to allow automatic orientation of the toolpiece to the seam.

Download the full case study (pdf)

Please contact us to find out more about our work in this area.