Automated Fastening of Aircraft Cargo Door Structures with a Standard Articulating Robot System

The demand of flexible and cost-efficient solutions for automated fastening systems inspired us to develop the robot and end-effector technology to fulfil the customer's requirement for a highly accurate, automated robot based drill and fastening system for an aerospace application.

This paper describes an innovative robot cell for drilling and solid riveting installation in cargo door structures of a single aisle aircraft at EUROCOPTER in Germany. The required absolute positioning accuracy is reached by using a special compensation package for the robot that was developed by BROETJE-Automation. Our customer's application required a completely new type of end-effector; installing solid rivets and capable of operating within the inner structure of the cargo doors. This solution demonstrates how standard robots equipped with a mature compensation method by BROETJE-Automation resulted in a highly flexible and cost-efficient light weight automation response.