Development of a Compact Robotic Fastening System for Enclosed Wing Assembly

开发用于封闭式机翼装配的紧凑型机器人紧固系统

• 批准号: 517479-2017
• 负责人: Xi, Fengfeng
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: Ryerson University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Engage Grants Program
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=640005
• 关键词: Development; Compact; Robotic; Fastening; System

MHI Canada Aerospace Inc. (MHICA), a group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, is a Tier 1 manufacturer of airframe assemblies. The company was created in 2006 based in Mississauga Ontario and it has progressively grown in capability and capacity with a new facility created in 2012. Fastening is a main manufacturing method for airframe assembly that is traditionally performed manually. Manual fastening operations are tedious, repetitious, prone to error, and could cause health and ergonomic problems. Since its inception, MHICA has been very innovative in developing automatic airframe assembly systems. Currently, the company is looking for an effective way of automating the wing assembly process. This is a challenging problem in that the work space is enclosed, very narrow and difficult to access for fastening. Therefore, the objective of this research project is to develop a compact robotic fastening system for enclosed area assembly. The proposed robot is designed as a portable wheeled robot arm with a toolhead attached to the robot end-effector. Five topics will be covered in this research project. The first topic is the identification of accessibility space for a given enclosed assembly area. The second topic is the design of the toolhead that is capable of torqueing a nut. The third topic is the design of a compact robot that can navigate through the enclosed area for fastening. The fourth topic is the quick alignment of the robot with the workpiece. The last issue is safety that the robot will work with the operator on the same assembly floor without the need to completely vacate the adjacent area. Since airframe assembly takes about 50% of the Canadian aerospace manufacturing business, the ssuccessful completion of this project will enable airframe assembly companies like MHICA to improve its capability. Therefore, this project will potentially contribute towards the growth of the Canadian aerospace sector by developing innovative systems and training engineering graduates in this area.

三菱重工加拿大航空航天有限公司（MHICA）是三菱重工旗下的一家集团公司，是一家一级机身组件制造商。该公司成立于2006年，总部位于安大略省密西沙加市，并于2012年建立了一个新工厂，其能力和产能逐步增长。紧固是传统手工装配的主要制造方法。手动紧固操作繁琐、重复、容易出错，并可能导致健康和人体工程学问题。自成立以来，MHICA在开发自动机身装配系统方面一直非常创新。目前，该公司正在寻找一种有效的方法来实现机翼装配过程的自动化。这是一个具有挑战性的问题，因为工作空间是封闭的，非常狭窄，难以进入紧固。因此，本研究项目的目标是开发一种紧凑的机器人紧固系统，用于封闭区域的装配。提出的机器人被设计成一个便携式轮式机械臂，工具头连接到机器人末端执行器上。本研究计划将涵盖五个主题。第一个主题是给定封闭集合区域的可访问性空间的识别。第二个主题是能够扭转螺母的工具头的设计。第三个课题是设计一种能够在封闭区域内导航进行紧固的紧凑型机器人。第四个主题是机器人与工件的快速对准。最后一个问题是安全，机器人将与操作员在同一装配车间工作，而不需要完全腾出相邻区域。由于机身组装约占加拿大航空航天制造业务的50%，因此该项目的成功完成将使MHICA等机身组装公司能够提高其能力。因此，该项目将通过开发创新系统和培训该领域的工程毕业生，为加拿大航空航天业的发展做出潜在贡献。