A Comparison between Indoor GPS versus Laser Tracking Metrology for Robotic Drilling

Hawker de Havilland has undertaken research to utilize the benefits of using industrial robots for high accuracy drilling and trimming of composite components in preparation for assembly. Central to this development is the metrology system used to provide online position and orientation feedback to the robot control. Feedback is required for both digital calibration of the robotic work cell and error correction for any robot deflection.

This paper presents a comparative study between two off-the-shelf metrology technologies; one being Indoor Infrared Global Positioning System (IRGPS), and the other Laser Tracking. The experiments use the task of robotic drilling in carbon composites to evaluate the effectiveness and limitations of each metrology system by measure of achievable drilling accuracy and ease of application.