Autonomous Robust & Rapid Processes for the Machining of Aerospace Specific Parts & Components

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This project addresses high inefficiency and resource consumption within aerospace Computer Numerical Control (CNC) manufacturing. Through novel adoption of CloudNC's autonomous manufacturing technology right-first-time and throughput are increased, while human effort, material and energy consumption are decreased. UK Aerospace parts are high-value; populated with complex features; have high finishing and tolerancing requirements; and are often in titanium. As a result the precision manufacture of these parts require a sizable manual programming effort; consume significant resources to machine; and are therefore costly to produce. CloudNC's autonomous manufacturing technology addresses these challenges by automating the development of the machining strategy of a part. Proven on generic medium-complexity parts in aluminium and steel, it condenses Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) programming time and removes human errors by making core decisions on strategy. Our current technology has a notable impact on factory unit economics: reduced specification to First Article Inspection process (FAI) time; and increased Right-First-Time metrics. This project extends the reach of CloudNC's technology to include aerospace features to support titanium milling strategies. It spans CAM Assistance and Cutting Parameter automation technologies to ensure that the correct tools are used; in the correct sequence; from the correct direction; and with the correct parameters across aluminium and titanium aerospace parts, ultimately yielding optimal cutting conditions and commensurate efficiency savings. GKN is a key collaborator and provides industry validation of CloudNC's technology. They provide reference parts salient to the UK Aerospace sector and ensure the wider exploitation of the technology. AMRC provides non-partisan test and validation of CloudNC's technology on GKN's reference parts.