Aircraft Engine Cowling Insert Perforator

A custom-designed six axis gantry style manipulator based on a CNC controls architecture was developed. The process begins by placing a lay-up fixture within the manipulator’s work envelope. Electric actuators hold the fixture in place. An operator manually directs a fixture position discovery cycle where the machine uses touch probe type sensing to locate two removable probing cups. Probe datum information coupled with CAD data precisely defines the fixture’s position in the workspace.

Composite material is draped over the fixture and the auto cycle begins. The apply wheel is lowered and guided across the outside of the fixture. Surface trajectories are supplied by post processing NC code and passing the information through a CAD data translator. The translator turns the data into the CNC controller’s native instruction format, G-codes.