Conformally Operating end-of-Arm Tool (COAT) System

Air Force sustainment teams, such as those at Warner Robins AFB, utilize conventional painting robots, with small, singular “spray heads” to strip and re-paint large, contoured surfaces during aircraft support operations.  These small coverage tools result in relatively long processing times for large aircraft, limiting throughput capacity and requiring more associated manpower.  This limitation applies not only for painting/coating operations, but also for de-painting tools, such as media blasting, and other processes, such as automated inspection.  Due to the complex contours associated with airframes, the problem cannot be simply addressed by simply scaling-up the tool head or through the addition of even more paint robots, as each arm represents an expensive step-up in capital costs, support systems and associated manpower, which go far beyond the direct costs of additional robot arms themselves. To address this issue, ARM Automation, Inc. proposes to bring to the table an add-on solution to existing robotic paint systems which will allow for multiple process heads to dynamically track complex contours, effectively providing end-users with a much wider “paint brush” which can automatically conform to complex surfaces.  This tool, called COAT (Conformally Operating end-of-Arm Tool System), comprises multiple articulated positioners (small, 3-axis robot arms) stemming from a central hub.  These arms, in turn, are built up from a combination of existing family of proprietary “modular robotic actuators” previously developed by ARM Automation and Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) sensors.  These sub-components are then brought together and coordinated using a central controller which leverages ARM Automation’s extensive experience in building high-performance, custom robotic tool systems.