A magnetic grasping-machining end effector for robotic milling of pockets on thin curved panels

Thin and large aircraft skin panels are chemically milled to create pockets for weight reduction purposes which is not environmentally friendly, unpredictable and imprecise. The challenge is to replace the chemical milling... [ view full abstract ]

Thin and large aircraft skin panels are chemically milled to create pockets for weight reduction purposes which is not environmentally friendly, unpredictable and imprecise. The challenge is to replace the chemical milling process by mechanical milling in order to reduce the environmental impact and attain the precision requirement. The three main impediments to mechanical milling are skin panel’s thinness causing low stiffness, double curvature and tight final thickness tolerance. The magnetic grasping and machining end effector is a novel idea to overcome these technical problems. An end effector prototype has been assembled and a few tests have been completed to verify this innovative idea inside a CNC machine with satisfactory results establishing a ground for the further research and development.