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A Large-Scale Robotic System for Depainting Advanced Fighter Aircraft
Abstract:
The general benefits of automation are well documented. Order of
magnitude improvements are achievable in processing speeds,
production rates, and efficiency. Other benefits include improved
process consistency (inversely, reduced process variation), reduced
waste and energy consumption, and risk reduction to operators.
These benefits are especially true for the automation of the
aerospace paint removal (or "depaint") processes.
Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) developed and implemented
two systems in the early 1990s for depainting full-body fighter
aircraft at Robins Air Force Base (AFB) at Warner Robins, Georgia,
and Hill AFB at Ogden, Utah. These systems have been in production
use, almost continuously for approximately 20 years, for the
depainting of the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Falcon fighter aircraft,
respectively. Based on these previous systems, the Advanced Fighter
Aircraft Depaint System (AFADS) has been designed, built, and
installed as part of a large maintenance facility for advanced
fighter aircraft.
The AFADS includes a number of technology enhancements, such as
increasing the robot reach by an additional 10 feet to give it the
capability of depainting any of the fighter aircraft in the USAF
fleet. The AFADS is comprised of two identical robots (one
positioned on either side of the aircraft), an aircraft positioning
system, an operator control room, three levels of operator control,
and an interface with the dry media depaint process. The media to
be used in the process is MIL-P-85891A Type VII cornstarch-based
media.
Though the AFADS system represents a significant advancement in
robotic depaint technology, SwRI sees other opportunities to
further advance the state of the art of aircraft depaint,
particularly with regards to laser processes, automation control,
path programming, and the application of mobile robotic platforms.
SwRI, with their collaborators, is currently developing a new laser
paint removal process that was recently demonstrated on the AFADS
robotic platform.