Drill and Fastening Robot

"arcarde" – The robot application for the aircraft industry

Optimizing and automating processes, increasing competitiveness by reducing the error rate as well as increasing high availability of production systems: one possible optimization approach is flexible and scalable process automation.

This is why we developed ”arcarde”. The robot-based application enables full precision automation of the technological process usually established in aircraft production - the positive joining of structure parts. "arcarde" stands for Assembly Robotic Cell Application for Riveting and Drilling End Effector, and makes drilling and countersinking in a single process step possible– including quality control.

Using a stereo camera the robot-aided tool can be positioned highly accurately on a part with complex geometries (with 3-waycurved). In this aviation typical drilling process, the tool drills a hole with a diameter of up to 12 mm within a maximum of 10 seconds. A spindle with a speed of up to 20,000 rpm allows for a very accurate hole of almost any material stacks. Productivity data is transferred automatically into a database that is available anywhere.

The implementation of additional process steps, such as application if sealant and setting of the rivet, is still in the trial phase. These process steps will be available soon as options for our customers.

In addition to excellent performance characteristics the application is maintenance and repair friendly. Of the usage of standard components from leading manufacturers means spare parts can be purchased quickly cost effectively. Our global after-sales service is aligned towards this.