A new instrument for large volume metrology and advanced manufacturing

In a vast indoor hanger two commercial aircraft, surrounded by gantries and equipment, are being assembled

Many industrial sectors, including aerospace, automotive, and energy production, utilise autonomous manufacturing. Capable of producing products more efficiently at reduced cost, it is essential that production processes are continually monitored in real time to ensure they are flexible and can respond to changes. This requires state-of-the-art metrology in large, dynamic environments, where measurements require sub-millimetre accuracy.

Challenge

Solution

Impact

Image of a industrial robotic arm in a factory

Developing the instruments for advanced manufacturing and the factories of the future

Building on the work of LUMINAR and LaVa, the DynaMITE project: • Upgraded a novel FSI system to enable multiple object tracking in large factory floor environments • Developed a low-cost and dynamic photogrammetry system consisting of 18 cameras, simultaneously tracking 50+ objects with live 6-degee-of-freedom at 100 Hz and 10 m/s in a 10 m × 8 m × 2 m volume. The system was tested in scenarios including on an aircraft wing, a reference table, 4 aerospace drills, and multiple joints on 2 robots, before delivering 3 systems to manufacturing organisations • Further developed a photogrammetry camera calibration process which was used to measure aircraft performance at a Polish airfield • Designed a new fast self-tracking interferometer with multiple-wavelength coaxial beams • Completed multiple copies of a telemeter measurement head, to form a multilateration telemeter system The new instruments and systems devised will provide the tools required for the next generation of factories of the future.

  • Contact: Andrew Lewis
  • NPL | +44 20 8943 6074 | andrew.lewis@npl.co.uk
  • Category
  • EMPIR,
  • Industry,
  • New Technologies,
  • EMN Advanced Manufacturing,