Method and an apparatus for performing a program controlled process on a component

USRE45391E1 · kind E1 · reissue

Assignee

• AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED · DE

Inventors

• Mark Summers · Bristol, GB
• Roger Holden · Lawrence, US
• Brett Jason Green · Bristol, GB

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 18, 2013
• Grant date: Feb 24, 2015
• Expiry date: Jun 18, 2033

Classification

• Technology area (CPC —): General

Abstract

A drilling machine drills at a multiplicity of target locations on a component. Two robots, calibrated with calibration data, move the component in a 6-D coordinate system. A metrology system ascertains the position of the component relative to the drilling machine. The movement of the robots is effected by commands generated by off-line programming. The component is moved relative to the drilling machine to a target position, ready for drilling, by a closed-loop process in which the differences in position between the expected position (the target position) and the actual position (as viewed by the metrology system) are corrected.