Flexible Manufacturing System for Aircraft Structures

• US 20150314889A1
• Filed: 12/03/2014
• Published: 11/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Day, Dan Dresskell, Munk, Clayton Lynn, Reid, Eric M., Schmitt, Steven John
• Granted Patent: US 10,427,254 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B23B 2215/04 Aircraft components
• CPC Class Codes: B23B 41/00 Boring or drilling machines or devices specially adapted for particular work surgical drilling machines A61B17/16; Accessories specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B23P 21/004 the units passing two or more work-stations whilst being composed
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/10 Manufacturing or assembling aircraft, e.g. jigs therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/50 Convertible metal working machine
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 408/03 Processes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 408/52 with work advancing or guiding means

Abstract

A method and apparatus for manufacturing an aircraft structure. A drivable support may be driven from a first location to a second location to bring the drivable support together with at least one other drivable support to form a drivable support system. A structure may be held in a desired position using the drivable support system.

Claims

1. A flexible manufacturing system for an aircraft structure comprising:

a drivable support driven from a first location and brought together with at least one other drivable support to form a drivable support system at a second location on a floor of a manufacturing environment, in which the drivable support system is configured to hold a structure in a desired position.

2. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the drivable support system is configured to drive the structure to a third location while operations are being performed on the structure.

3. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 2, wherein steering direction is provided for at least one of the drivable support, the drivable support system, or a plurality of autonomous tool systems.

4. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 1 further comprising:

a plurality of autonomous tool systems configured to perform operations on the structure while the structure is driven to a third location.

5. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 4, wherein the plurality of autonomous tool systems is configured to drive across the floor of the manufacturing environment.

6. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 4, wherein the plurality of autonomous tool systems comprise at least one of a crawler robot, a tack driller, a hexapod, a lower panel driller, and an upper panel driller.

7. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 4, wherein the plurality of autonomous tool systems are configured to operate simultaneously to perform the operations on the structure.

8. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 4 further comprising:

a metrology system configured to determine a current position of at least one of the drivable support system, the plurality of autonomous tool systems, or the structure, relative to one another.

9. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 8, wherein the metrology system comprises:

a plurality of sensor systems connected to at least one of the plurality of autonomous tool systems or each drivable support in the drivable support system.

10. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 8 further comprising:

a controller in communication with the metrology system, the drivable support system, and the plurality of autonomous tool systems, in which the controller is configured to control operation of at least one of the metrology system, the drivable support system, or the plurality of autonomous tool systems.

11. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 10, wherein the controller controls operation of each drivable support in the drivable support system individually.

12. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 10, wherein a plurality of drivable supports in the drivable support system are configured to separate from each other and drive to a fourth location after the structure is removed from the drivable support system.

13. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 12, wherein the fourth location is the first location.

14. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 10, wherein reconfiguration of the flexible manufacturing system is performed based on changes in at least one of dimensions of the manufacturing environment, a status of the operations for the structure, a status of the drivable support system, or a status of the plurality of autonomous tool systems.

15. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 10, wherein the drivable support system comprises:

a plurality of drivable supports, wherein each drivable support in the plurality of drivable supports is configured to hold a part for the structure and drive across the floor of the manufacturing environment to position each respective part relative to one another under command of the controller.

16. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of drivable supports are interchangeable with one another.

17. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 15, wherein the drivable support system further comprises:

a plurality of connection devices associated with each of the plurality of drivable supports and configured to connect to the structure.

18. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 15, wherein the drivable support system is a rapid autonomous barge intelligent tool (RABIT).

19. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to control a height of the plurality of connection devices.

20. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to control an extension of the plurality of connection devices.

21. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 15, wherein the drivable support system comprises:

a bridge system connected to a platform and configured to provide access to the structure by a human operator; and

a rail system configured to provide fall protection for the human operator.

22. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to send commands to the plurality of drivable supports to change a current position of at least one portion of the structure based on the current position of the portion determined by the metrology system.

23. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to assign tasks to the plurality of drivable supports in commands sent to the plurality of drivable supports.

24. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 23, wherein the controller is configured to monitor a status of the tasks assigned to the plurality of drivable supports and a status of the plurality of drivable supports.

25. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 23, wherein the controller is configured to reassign the tasks between the plurality of drivable supports based on at least one of a status of the tasks or a status of the plurality of drivable supports.

26. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the aircraft structure is selected from one of a fuselage, a vertical stabilizer, a wing, a control surface, and a horizontal stabilizer.

27. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to send commands to the plurality of autonomous tool systems to perform the operations on the structure.

28. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 27, wherein the controller is configured to assign tasks to the plurality of autonomous tool systems in the commands sent to the plurality of autonomous tool systems.

29. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 27, wherein the controller is configured to monitor a status of tasks assigned to the plurality of autonomous tool systems and a status of the plurality of autonomous tool systems.

30. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 27, wherein the controller is configured to reassign tasks between the plurality of autonomous tool systems based on at least one of a status of the tasks or a status of the plurality of autonomous tool systems.

31. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 1 further comprising:

a navigator in communication with a controller and configured to generate a path for a plurality of autonomous tool systems to reach a desired position relative to the structure.

32. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 31 further comprising:

a transformer in communication with the navigator, a metrology system, and the controller, wherein the transformer is configured to transform a current position of a component determined by the metrology system to be airplane coordinates.

33. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 32, wherein the path is generated by the navigator based on the airplane coordinates received from the transformer.

34. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 1 further comprising:

a loading system configured to move relative to the floor of the manufacturing environment to position at least one of an upper skin panel or a lower skin panel relative to the structure.

35. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 34, wherein the loading system comprises:

a first loading device configured to position the upper skin panel relative to the structure; and

a second loading device configured to position the lower skin panel relative to the structure.

36. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 2, wherein the operations include at least one of a drilling operation, a fastening operation, an inspecting operation, a sealing operation, a measurement operation, a leveling operation, or a cleaning operation.

37. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the drivable support system is configured to carry the structure between the first location, the second location, a third location, and a number of additional locations in the manufacturing environment.

136. The flexible manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the operations are performed on the structure while the drivable support system holds the structure in the desired position.

38. A method for manufacturing an aircraft structure, the method comprising:

driving a drivable support from a first location to a second location to bring the drivable support together with at least one other drivable support to form a drivable support system; and

holding a structure in a desired position using the drivable support system.

39. The method of claim 38 further comprising:

driving the structure from the second location to a third location on a floor of a manufacturing environment using the drivable support system.

40. The method of claim 39 further comprising:

performing operations on the structure using a plurality of autonomous tool systems.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the operations are performed while the structure is driven to the third location.

42. The method of claim 41 further comprising:

steering the plurality of autonomous tool systems.

43. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

steering at least one of the drivable support or the drivable support system.

44. The method of claim 40, wherein the operations are performed while the structure is driven from the second location to the third location.

45. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

determining a current position for at least one of the drivable support system, the plurality of autonomous tool systems, or the structure, in which the current position is determined using a metrology system.

46. The method of claim 45 further comprising:

controlling operation of the plurality of autonomous tool systems, the drivable support system, and the metrology system using a controller.

47. The method of claim 45 further comprising:

removing the structure from the drivable support system;

separating a plurality of drivable supports in the drivable support system from one another; and

driving at least one of the plurality of drivable supports to a fourth location.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the fourth location is the first location.

49. The method of claim 45 further comprising:

performing the operations on the structure using at least one of a crawler robot, a tack driller, a hexapod, a lower panel driller, or an upper panel driller.

50. The method of claim 49 further comprising:

pulsing the structure through a plurality of work cells in the manufacturing environment using the drivable support system as the operations are performed on the structure.

51. The method of claim 49 further comprising:

continuously moving the structure through the manufacturing environment using the drivable support system as the operations are performed on the structure.

52. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

positioning the plurality of autonomous tool systems relative to the structure using commands generated by a controller.

53. The method of claim 52 further comprising:

monitoring a current position of the plurality of autonomous tool systems using a metrology system.

54. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

reconfiguring at least one of the drivable support system or the plurality of autonomous tool systems based on changes in at least one of dimensions of the manufacturing environment, a status of the structure, or a status of the at least one of the drivable support system or the plurality of autonomous tool systems.

55. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

generating commands to move the plurality of autonomous tool systems from a current position to a desired position relative to the structure, wherein the commands are generated using a controller.

56. The method of claim 55 further comprising:

assigning tasks to the plurality of autonomous tool systems in the commands generated by the controller.

57. The method of claim 56 further comprising:

monitoring a status of the tasks assigned to the plurality of autonomous tool systems;

monitoring a status of the plurality of autonomous tool systems; and

reassigning the tasks between the plurality of autonomous tool systems based on at least one of the status of the tasks or the status of the plurality of autonomous tool systems.

58. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

generating commands for a plurality of drivable supports to drive from the first location to the second location using a controller.

59. The method of claim 58 further comprising:

assigning tasks to each drivable support in the commands generated by the controller.

60. The method of claim 59 further comprising:

monitoring a status of the tasks assigned to the plurality of drivable supports;

monitoring a status of the plurality of drivable supports; and

reassigning the tasks between the plurality of drivable supports based on at least one of the status of the tasks or the status of the plurality of drivable supports.

61. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

generating a path for a plurality of autonomous tool systems to reach the desired position relative to the structure, wherein the path is generated by a navigator.

62. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

positioning an upper skin panel relative to the structure.

63. The method of claim 62 further comprising:

performing the operations on the upper skin panel using a first portion of the plurality of autonomous tool systems.

64. The method of claim 63 further comprising:

positioning a lower skin panel relative to the structure.

65. The method of claim 64 further comprising:

performing the operations on the lower skin panel using a second portion of the plurality of autonomous tool systems.

66. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

driving the plurality of autonomous tool systems along the floor of the manufacturing environment.

67. The method of claim 66 further comprising:

driving the plurality of autonomous tool systems across the structure.

68. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

operating the plurality of autonomous tool systems simultaneously to perform the operations on the structure.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein an operation in the operations includes at least one of a drilling operation, a fastening operation, an inspecting operation, a sealing operation, a measurement operation, a leveling operation, or a cleaning operation.

70. The method of claim 38 further comprising:

carrying the structure from the second location to a third location using the drivable support system.

71. The method of claim 38 further comprising:

carrying a portion of the structure from the first location to the second location using the drivable support.

72-135. -135. (canceled)