PaintJet: Controlled-Spray Head for Automated Stenciling of Aircraft Markings

The United States Air Force (USAF) is suffering from two different fleet readiness trends. The fleet is aging, and readiness is falling. The increase in grounded aircraft, maintainer shortage, and worsening pilot retention have all led to a declining readiness level of the USAF. Painting is a resource-intensive task that is a major contributor to the maintenance backlog.  One of the most resource-consuming parts of any paint job is the final markings. Application of markings such as identifiers, communicators, and insignia require more than their fair share of time and skill to complete. A great deal of time, skill, and space resources are wasted avoiding or fixing mistakes. The only coating process more labor intensive than marking an aircraft is correcting a marking mistake. Mistakes can be very expensive and put personnel at risk for repetitive strain injuries and peripheral neuropathy. An automated aircraft marking solution is required, but current state-of-the-art technology is not capable of printing with MIL-Spec paints.  Current automated printing and marking technologies utilize inks that require a clearcoat to remain permanent.  Current inkjetting equipment cannot print with the high-viscosity and high-solids content MIL-spec Paints required for aircraft marking.  Figure Engineering plans to solve this national security issue by developing the paint printing technology they proved feasible in phase I into a multi-stage print head that can be mounted on a robotic arm for automated aircraft marking.