Robodome imaging for high performance manufactured aerostructures

下一代高能效飞机需要高度优化的气动翼面，这些翼面设计成能以越来越高的生产速度制造出越来越严格的公差。为了促进这一点，在部件界面和产品关键表面都需要高精度的空间信息，以了解零件到零件装配所需的操作、零件中由此产生的扭曲的影响以及任何必要的返工。下游机会延伸到整个制造周期，以支持优化质量、成本和生产率所需的产品设计、材料和工艺的调整。这一活动面临的挑战是现有的大量计量系统和部署无法实现多样化的工程要求；成本过高或需要中断或停止制造过程的部署。就目前的产品而言，飞机机翼制造中的计量活动主要是交钥匙，消耗了空中客车生产时间的25%以上。在反映卫星导航数据及其现在无处不在的对车载和手机导航的依赖的系统范式中，提高生产率和灵活性以支持新流程，需要来自嵌入制造基础设施的系统的更丰富、更可靠的空间数据。虽然有能力的系统在中小批量提供，并且随着创新资金的投入将演变为工业传感器网络，但在大容量无标记表面计量方面的研究和技术差距限制了机会。针对这次EPSRC呼吁的“支持模型验证的工具，制造业中的计量”这一主题，我们的建议旨在弥合这一差距。我们的愿景是将由虚拟光学计量仪器模型引导的低成本反射变换成像嵌入工厂空间，在几十平方米的面积上实现几微米量级的精度。空中客车公司通过Reng/空中客车在大容量计量领域的主席为PI提供支持，从而实现了R&T合作，并接触到了包括设计未来数字工厂的制造架构师在内的专家。我们共同创建了这项建议，并将指导所需的基础研究，以开发和展示基于反射变换成像(RTI)的可扩展低成本全场光学测量，以支持以本地度量不确定度验证为基础的大容量表面的数据驱动制造。结果将得到验证，直接光学表面测量达到前所未有的精度水平，涵盖了具有先进多材料气动结构特征的各种表面材料、形式和光学抛光。同时，它将有助于为设计制造空间和嵌入式设施提供必要的信息，以便在新兴的Fly Zero战略中实现下一代机翼产品的敏捷制造。与合作伙伴空中客车、NCC和塔拉兹计量公司密切合作，针对行业用例提供已开发技术的演示，将打开机会，将我们研究产生的能力扩展到其他行业，在这些行业，尖端高性能数字工程表面的制造是成功的关键。例如风能、造船和现场制造。

The next generation of energy-efficient aircraft require highly optimised aerodynamic wing surfaces engineered to increasingly tight tolerances manufactured at increasing rates of production. To facilitate this, high accuracy spatial information is required both at component interfaces and product critical surfaces to understand the manipulations needed to fit part-to-part, the impact of resultant distortions in the parts and any necessary rework. Downstream opportunities extend over the manufacturing cycle, to support adaptations in product design, materials and processes needed to optimise quality, cost, and productivity.Challenging this activity are existing large volume metrology systems and deployments failing to achieve diverse engineering requirements; being too costly or needing deployments that disrupt or stop the manufacturing process. For current products metrology activities in aircraft wing manufacture are largely turn-key and consume over 25% of Airbus production time. In a systems paradigm that mirrors satellite navigation data and its now ubiquitous reliance for in-car and mobile phone navigation, improvement in productivity and flexibility to support new processes requires richer trustworthy spatial data from systems that are embedded into manufacturing infrastructure. Whilst capable systems are available at small to medium volumes and with innovation funding will evolve into industrial sensor networks, a research and technology gap in large-volume marker less surface metrology limits opportunity. Addressing the "tools to support the verification of models, metrology in manufacturing" theme of this EPSRC call, our proposal seeks to close the gap.Our vision is to embed low-cost Reflectance Transformation Imaging guided by virtual optical metrology instrument models into factory spaces to achieve accuracies of the order of a few micrometres over areas of several tens of square metres. Airbus supports the PI through an REng/Airbus Chair in Large-Volume Metrology enabling R&T collaboration and access to specialists including manufacturing architects who design the digital factories of the future. Together we have co-created this proposal and will steer the fundamental research needed to develop and demonstrate scalable low-cost full-field optical metrology based on Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) to support the data driven manufacture of large-volume surfaces underpinned with local metric uncertainty verification. The outcome will be validated direct optical surface measurement to unprecedented levels of accuracy across the wide variety of surface materials, forms and optical finishes that characterise advanced multi-material aerostructures. In parallel it will help inform the design of the manufacturing spaces and embedded facilities necessary to enable agile manufacture of next generation wing products in the emerging Fly Zero strategy.Close working with partners Airbus, NCC and Taraz Metrology against industry use cases to deliver demonstrators of the developed technologies will open opportunities to extend capabilities arising from our research into other sectors where manufacture of cutting-edge high-performance digitally engineered surfaces are central to success. Examples include wind energy, shipbuilding, and onsite fabrication.