Gate‐to‐Gate Study for Collaborative Robot‐Assisted Composite Parts Manufacturing Using a Work Effort Unit Approach

This work presents one example from a set of technologies that aim at improving the efficiency of manufacturing processes of aircraft components in one of Airbus Defence and Space plants in regards to environmental aspects. Among the proposed technologies, one relates to the automation of two key manufacturing steps of the reference technology in the composite manufacturing of omega stringers: 1) lamination of main omega stringer structure through an Automated Fiber Placement robotic process; and 2) cobotic pick-and-place process for Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer patches. To evaluate potential environmental benefits, Fraunhofer performs a gate-to-gate study using as main parameter the “Work effort unit,” in this case representing the average energy consumption per productive hour in a typical assembly factory. When comparing the results for the composite part manufacturing by hand lay-up with the use of collaborative robots, the key technical parameter is the reduction in lead time. While production using robots consume additional electricity when compared to human workers, automation significantly shortens lead times (-74%), resulting in lower energy consumption per manufactured unit. The results indicate that this new technology from Airbus Defence and Space can potentially improve the overall environmental performance of composite parts during their manufacture.