Novel and Automated Installation Methods for Aircraft Appliqu¿s

"Use of appliqu¿ in place of paint for DoD aircraft topcoats could save billions of dollars in fleet life cycle cost. A major impediment to rapid adoption of appliqu¿ is the high cost associated with installation labor. In Phase I major installation laborcost drivers were prioritized as edge sealing, forming appliqu¿ around protruding head fasteners, large area applications and compound curvatures. Phase I R&D focused on development of a edge sealing robot, with additional effort directed toward fastenerissues. The primary Phase I accomplishment was the demonstration of breadboard hardware and software allowing a robot using computer vision to autonomously identify and seal the seams of appliqu¿ interfaces. In Phase II KCI will continue to work withaircraft primes as we modify, extend and adapt the capabilities of the Phase I robot. Phase II will culminate with a demonstration on a near-commercial version of the robotic technology, based on R&D initiated in Phase I. The robot demonstration willinclude edge seaming and forming of appliqu¿ onto rivet heads of commercial and military aircraft. The Phase II robotic system will require only occasional supervision to address major portions of an aircraft's skin, including vertical and invertedsurfaces."