Remote advanced repair guidance

• US 10,350,839 B2
• Filed: 05/21/2015
• Issued: 07/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Safai, Morteza, Georgeson, Gary E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Colan, Giovanna B
• Application Number:
  US14/719,141
• Publication Number:
  US 20160339652A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,517 Days
• Field of Search: 382103, 382108, 700245
• CPC Class Codes: B24B 49/12 involving optical means
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2073/264 for cutting out or grooving the area to be repaired
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 69/001 a shaping technique combined with cutting, e.g. in parts or slices combined with rearranging and joining the cut parts for reinforced material B29C70/545; B29C49/4278, B29C51/268 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 70/745 Filling cavities in the preformed part for joining B29C70/84
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 73/10 using patches sealing on the surface of the article B29C73/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 73/12 Apparatus therefor, e.g. for applying B29C73/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 73/26 for mechanical pretreatment
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2067/00 Use of polyesters or derivatives thereof, as moulding material
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2105/12 of short lengths, e.g. chopped filaments, staple fibres or bristles
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2309/08 Glass
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2009/00 Layered products
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/048 Monitoring; Safety
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/24001 Maintenance, repair
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1454 involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/12 Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/12 Avionics applications

Abstract

Systems and processes for enabling an off-site expert to interact with an on-site technician during repair of composite structure. The off-site expert can provide real-time guidance to an on-site technician before and during the performance of repair procedures to avoid errors. The off-site expert is also able to monitor the repair procedures in real time to verify that correct procedures are being employed. In particular, the systems and processes disclosed herein can provide direct visual guidance, feedback, and out-of-plan warnings for manual or automated scarfing and other operations during repair of composite structure. In some embodiments, the repair process combines optical three-dimensional surface measurement, illumination by at least one of visible, ultraviolet and infrared light, and digital light processing projection to provide step-by-step monitoring of the repair.

Claims

1. A process for preparing a composite structure for repair, comprising:

using a three-dimensional optical metrology tool to collect a baseline surface measurement of a surface area of a composite structure to be repaired;

projecting a scarfing guide onto the surface area, which scarfing guide comprises an initial scarfing map that uses colors and shapes to indicate target scarfing depths for the surface area to be scarfed;

partially scarfing the surface area while the scarfing guide is being projected onto the surface area;

using the three-dimensional optical metrology tool to collect a current surface measurement of the partially scarfed surface area;

comparing the current surface measurement to the baseline surface measurement to determine differences between the current scarfing depths in the partially scarfed surface area and the target scarfing depths;

generating an updated scarfing map containing visual cues indicating regions where scarfing is not deep enough;

projecting the updated scarfing map onto the partially scarfed surface area; and

scarfing the regions where scarfing is not deep enough while the updated scarfing map is being projected onto the surface area.

2. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein the initial scarfing map further indicates respective regions in the area where material should be removed to respective depths which are different.

3. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein the initial scarfing map has outlines corresponding to respective plies of different sizes.

4. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein the scarfing operation comprises sanding to a depth that removes a defect in a first area.

5. The process as recited in claim 4, wherein the scarfing operation further comprises sanding composite material to form a taper that extends from the depth to a second area on the surface that surrounds the first area.

6. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein the scarfing guide further includes a specification of instructions for a procedure for removing composite material from the surface area.

9. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein the updated scarfing map further contains a visual cue indicating a region where scarfing is too deep.

10. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein the updated scarfing map further contains a visual cue indicating a region where the current scarfing depth matches the target scarfing depth.

7. A process for forming a depression in a composite structure, comprising at a repair site, comprising:

(a) using a three-dimensional optical metrology tool to measure a first three-dimensional profile of an area of a surface of a composite structure to be repaired;

(b) projecting an initial map onto the area that uses colors and shapes to indicate target depths for regions where material is to be removed from the composite structure;

(c) removing composite material from the area while the initial map is being projected onto the area;

(d) using the three-dimensional optical metrology tool to measure a second three-dimensional profile of the area after composite material has been removed in step (c);

(e) determining current depths in respective regions of the area where composite material has been removed based on measurements made in step (d);

(f) identifying regions of the area in which the respective current depth is less than a respective target depth;

(g) generating an updated map that indicates the regions identified in operation (f) where the current depth is less than the target depth;

(h) projecting the updated map onto the area of the composite structure;

(i) adjusting a location and a size of the projected updated map so that projected images of the regions identified in operation (f) overlie and are registered with respective regions of the area of the composite structure; and

(j) removing additional composite material from the respective regions in the area of the composite structure on which the projected images were overlaid in operation (i),

wherein operations (a) through (d) and (h) through (j) are performed at the repair site and operation (e) through (g) are performed at a remote location.

8. The process as recited in claim 7, wherein operations (b) through (h) are iterated until no regions are identified in operation (d).