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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/L32408/01
Title: MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION OF LARGE SCALE ASSEMBLIES
Principal Investigator: Cameron, Dr SA
Other Investigators:
Featherstone, Dr R
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
BAE Systems Tecnomatix Technologies
Department: Computer Science
Organisation: University of Oxford
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 January 1997 Ends: 31 December 1999 Value (£): 245,278
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Robotics & Autonomy
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Aerospace, Defence and Marine
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
Computer-based assembly visualization tools have become generally available in the last decade, and widely used in some industries (e.g. automobile manufacturing). We address the use of such tools to develop control programmes for a work cell that handles parts that are large and that can flex, namely the in-box components used in large aircraft wings. The physical scale and geometric complexity of these components and the manipulators used to handle them taxes the basic algorithms used within these tools.The need to allow the structure to flex during assembly means that the production sequences generated must accommodate changes in relative part positions; and the smooth geometry of wings makes clumsy the use of the usual polyhedral-based geometric models. This work will involve the integration and extension of existing techniques in visualisation, geometric modelling, and robot programming and planning, together with new research into these areas, and will result in a better understanding of the problems and their solutions.The goal of this work is to facilitate the development of production planning systems that can reduce the time taken to go from a product specification to the manufacture of that product, both in the aircraft industry and in others.
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Organisation Website: http://www.ox.ac.uk