Positioning variation synthesis for an automated drilling system in wing assembly

Tight position tolerance is required for fastener holes in wing manufacturing. Automated drilling system with high positioning accuracy is the key to achieve the requirement. The paper seeks to determine allowable values of variation sources and guarantee the hole position tolerance. The process of reference hole positioning and the compensation of drilling positions are firstly explored and formalized for an automated drilling system integrated with an industrial camera. Based on this, a positioning variation model for automated drilling considering positioning error measurement and compensation is built. After that, positioning variation synthesis being imposed engineering constraints on is mathematically modeled based on the theory of mathematical statistics. In the positioning variation synthesis, imperfect camera installation, nonideal measurement conditions, equipment positioning error, etc. are included. The positioning variation model and involving synthesis strategy have been used to develop an automated drilling system for wing assembly. Experiments conducted on the developed drilling system show that the fastener holes' desired position tolerance 0.3 mm will not be exceeded, which is a necessary condition of the satisfactory drilling quality of the aircraft wing.

Automated summary

This paper discusses the importance of tight position tolerance for fastener holes in wing manufacturing, focusing on the automated drilling system's role in achieving this requirement. The research explores the process of reference hole positioning, compensation of drilling positions, and the mathematical modeling of positioning variation synthesis.