Automated Metrology in a Business Jet Final Assembly Line

Abstract

An aircraft final assembly line (FAL) offers many opportunities for improved assembly via metrology. This article describes an implementation of an FAL with automated positioners and a metrology system. The aircraft in question is a business jet with an approximate 105-ft length and 105-ft wingspan. Automated metrology solutions reduce assembly time, improve quality, increase repeatability, and deskill the operation so that those who are not engineers can carry out a more rapid and accurate assembly process. A novel human-machine interface (HMI) gives a common look and feel throughout all operations in the multiple work cells, provides user instructions at the taskby-task level, and places a list with task checkoff functionality on the screen. The HMI uses SpatialAnalyzer (SA) from New River Kinematics to control laser tracker operations, record data, and communicate with a programmable logic controller (PLC) to command machine actions, yet all functionality is programmable via a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for easy modification of user instructions, graphics, and automation. diverse range of metrology instruments and is capable of many geometric operations and computations. • Least-squares best fit or best fit: An algorithm that minimizes the sum of all the deltas between a desired position and current position. • Transformation matrix: A rectangular array of numbers defining the orientation and position of an object in 3D space. Transformation matrixes are usually calculated