Aeronautics production of large composite wings

Current status: The assembly line of an aircraft center wing box involves several stations aided by an AGV and a robotic station, and the handling of the elements is performed using a bridge crane driven by operators. However, this operation is prone to swinging and could lead to damage to the components. A fine positioning of the elements is required to ensure the right match and avoid quality defects and errors in the assembly process. The fixtures used have an arch architecture and are formed by modular elements to adapt to different components, ensuring the quality of the final product.

MASTERLY solution: The production case will use additional, flexible manipulators for assembly operations, aided by metrology tools and a smart crane system with an adaptable gripper. A sensor network will monitor the operations to reduce collisions and swinging, while an intelligent fixture with smart modules and metrology tools will enable fine positioning of the elements to be assembled, minimizing errors and deformation. The goal is to improve production rate, handling security, and final product quality.