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Recently developed portable tools have proven themselves capable of feeding and installing fasteners automatically. They eliminate the entire manual processes attendant to the selection and manipulation of fasteners. The fasteners are either stored in remote cassettes or in storage built into the tools themselves. The paper will describe the various means of storing and automatically selecting the fasteners. Ergonomic enhancements, that offer reduced physical stress and provide a safer working environment, will be demonstrated. The configuration of two existing configurations, one suitable for Hi-lites© and the other for solid rivet installation, will be described. The details of the actual installation process and the computer interaction available in support of the installation processes will be described, along with the effect of the man/machine system on the flexibility, predictability and cycle time reduction of the process.

Handheld Automation may appear to be a contradiction in terms. It is not. A wide range of assembly methodologies are currently employed in support of aircraft assembly, two very specific approaches predominate. 1 The most popular approach, which accounts for the majority of the fasteners installed in current production aircraft, consists of a manual process. This requires the operator to perform manual operations in each of the many, if not all, of the steps involved in installing fasteners. Steps include fastener selection, sealant application, fastener insertion, fastener deformation, pin extraction, collar application, or torqueing, as the fastener may require. 2 The other end of the spectrum involves total automation where all of the steps are performed by a machine, with little or no manual involvement by the operator, other than supervision. Handheld automation bridges the gap between these extremes.

A number of automated fastener installation machines have demonstrated the advantage of cassette feeder systems as well as the benefits that accrue from the machine manipulation of fasteners. Although a substantial number of these automated systems are now in operation and are providing substantial cost and quality benefits to their users, a far greater number of fasteners are still and will continue to be, installed manually for some time to come. Recognizing the great number of manual operations that exist in the industry, we have concentrated our efforts on the development of systems that work in connection with the manual operator by providing him with the benefits of automatic fastener storage, selection, sealant application and semi automatic installation. The manual operator support systems range from stationary, multi-station systems all the way down to shoulder supported “packs” which provide similar functions for individual fastener installation.

Increased attention is being paid to the quality, consistency and cost of aircraft panel fastening operations. The advent of automated fastening has made it possible to achieve substantially greater productivity and quality, however it has also made more evident than ever that inadvertently mixed or otherwise deficient fasteners exact a cost and quality toll that can no longer be accepted. AHG has developed a fastener on line storage, delivery and inspection system that can substantially alleviate these problems. The AHG Modular Cassette Fastener and Delivery System and its associated Inspection and Reloading System permit the end user to inspect, sort, orient, refill and code the Modular Cassettes in a single operation. The inspection process is performed automatically by a combination of sensors, video cameras and software, all of which are under the control of a PC.

The fastening quality improvements achieved with automated assembly systems have given rise to a requirement for an on-line quality checking module. The module is capable of determining the key characteristics of an installed fastener without interrupting the automated assembly process. The three key characteristics measured by the module include: Hole diameter Countersinking height Fastener protrusion The module, recently developed by Dassault Aviation's Robotics organization consists of a 50mm x 400mm (2″x15″)module specially configured to fit within a standard barrel of Dassault current multifunction end-effectors. The module can be operated independent of the end-effector, or it can be integrated with the end effector in order to permit the measurements to be effected efficiently during the fastening installation process. The module is capable of providing information that goes beyond the three basic characteristics since it can also be used to measure eccentricity and tapper.

The goal of this paper is to present an innovative yet practical approach to automated aircraft assembly which meets the evolving aerospace industry requirements for flexibility and modularity. Adaptive Robotized Multifunction Assembly cell -ARMA is then described in two different vantage points: as a concept: a description of the philosophy which led to the development of automated assembly cells is offered as a practical solution: a description of the modular hardware and the powerful information processing system, that supports the individual cells is provided. The configuration which results in the most productive and effective cell while keeping the cost of equipment as low as possible is described. The ability of the cell to adapt to new requirements, as they evolve, is also described.