Mobile Robot Assembly Cell (RACe) for Drilling and Fastening

The demand of flexible and cost-efficient solutions for automated fastening systems inspired us, the BROETJE-Automation, 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 mobile robot platform for multiple uses in aviation industry. The base platform will be equipped with suitable modular units to meet the requirements of each customer exactly. The required absolute positioning accuracy is reached by using a special compensation package for the robot that was developed by BROETJE Automation. Several aircraft manufacturers are operating with this mobile cell works on single aisle and twin aisle programs. This solution demonstrates how standard robots equipped with a mature compensation method resulted in a highly flexible and cost-efficient light weight automation response.