Intelligent Sensing for Robotic Re-Manufacturing in Aerospace - An Industry 4.0 Design Based Prototype

摘要

Emerging through an industry-academia\udcollaboration between the University of Sheffield and VBC\udInstrument Engineering Ltd, a proposed robotic solution for remanufacturing\udof jet engine compressor blades is under ongoing\uddevelopment, producing the first tangible results for evaluation.\udHaving successfully overcome concept adaptation, funding\udmechanisms, design processes, with research and development\udtrials, the stage of concept optimization and end-user application\udhas commenced. A variety of new challenges is emerging, with\udmultiple parameters requiring control and intelligence. An\udinterlinked collaboration between operational controllers,\udQuality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) systems,\uddatabases, safety and monitoring systems, is creating a complex\udnetwork, transforming the traditional manual re-manufacturing\udmethod to an advanced intelligent modern smart-factory.\udIncorporating machine vision systems for characterization,\udinspection and fault detection, alongside advanced real-time\udsensor data acquisition for monitoring and evaluating the\udwelding process, a huge amount of valuable industrial data is\udproduced. Information regarding each individual blade is\udcombined with data acquired from the system, embedding data\udanalytics and the concept of ìInternet of Thingsî (IoT) into the\udaerospace re-manufacturing industry. The aim of this paper is to\udgive a first insight into the challenges of the development of an\udIndustry 4.0 prototype system and an evaluation of first results of\udthe operational prototype.\ud