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Design, Analysis, and Prototyping of a Multifunctional Digital Twin-Enabled Aerospace Drilling End-Effector Deployable by a Collaborative Robot

Authors: Kazemiesfahani MDilfanian EMonsarrat BHajzargarbashi S


Affiliations

1 Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada.
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6, Canada.
3 Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada.

Description

Drilling in aerospace one-up assembly demands high positional accuracy, strong clamping forces, and precise angular compensation to ensure quality in multi-layered stacks. Existing robotic solutions achieve these requirements but are costly, bulky, and unsuitable for flexible or collaborative environments. This work introduces the Advanced Collaborative Multifunctional End-Effector (ACME), a lightweight robotic drilling end-effector designed for integration with collaborative robots (cobots). ACME incorporates vacuum-assisted clamping capable of generating high forces, a passive self-normalization mechanism for angular alignment on double-curvature surfaces, and a compact 5-DoF positioning system for precise positioning and orientation. The system's kinematics and dynamics were modeled and experimentally verified through frequency response function (FRF) testing, enabling precise behavior prediction. The tool is integrated within a cyber-physical system (CPS) featuring an interactive digital twin that, unlike passive monitoring systems, allows operators to configure workpieces, select drilling locations directly from rendered CAD, and supervise execution without programming expertise. Experiments demonstrated average positional errors of 0.19 mm and normality deviations of 0.29°, both within aerospace standards. The results confirm that ACME effectively extends cobot capabilities for aerospace-grade drilling while improving flexibility, safety, and operator accessibility.


Keywords: ACMEEnd-of-Arm Tool (EoAT)Industry 4 0ROSautomated drillingcollaborative robot (cobot)cyber-physical system (CPS)digital twinone-up assembly


Links

PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41471503/

DOI: 10.3390/s25247504