Actuating mechanism for aircraft assembly connecting hole based on high-energy laser beam and using method

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of automatic hole forming, and particularly relates to an aircraft assembly connecting hole executing mechanism based on a high-energy laser beam and a using method. An aircraft assembly connecting hole executing mechanism based on a high-energy laser beam comprises a tail end moving carrier, a tail end executing mechanism and an operation auxiliary system. Wherein the tail end moving carrier carries the tail end executing mechanism, and the operation auxiliary system is used for enabling the tail end moving carrier and the tail end executing mechanism to operate normally and completing space coordinate positioning before hole forming and the multi-degree-of-freedom rotation function of the tail end executing mechanism.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of automated hole-making technology, specifically relating to an actuator and method for using aircraft assembly connection holes based on a high-energy laser beam. Background Technology

[0002] Hole-making technology in aircraft assembly is one of the most important technologies in the aerospace manufacturing field, mainly including drilling, riveting, and bolt installation. These technologies occupy a vital position in aircraft manufacturing, and their quality and precision directly affect the safety and performance of the aircraft. High demands for production efficiency, stringent standards for processing quality and precision, and the extensive use of composite materials and difficult-to-machine materials such as titanium alloys mean that aircraft assembly hole-making technology constantly faces new challenges. New hole-making methods and equipment based on different cutting principles have become one way to solve the current challenges in aircraft assembly hole-making.

[0003] High-energy laser processing technology, as an advanced special processing method, offers high flexibility and adaptability to various materials. Furthermore, its insensitivity to the properties of the processed materials ensures consistent processing results for applications involving the integrated processing of materials with different characteristics, making it suitable for the complex machining of heterogeneous laminated materials in aircraft assembly. Therefore, to enhance the automated drilling capabilities in the current aircraft assembly drilling field and improve the adaptability of equipment operation, it is necessary to develop a highly integrated actuator based on novel processing technologies to adapt to challenging machining conditions and reduce manufacturing costs and timelines. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Purpose of the invention: To provide an actuator and method for using aircraft assembly connection holes based on a high-energy laser beam, so as to solve the problems of low accessibility and flexibility of existing automatic hole-making equipment and limited processing capability for difficult processing conditions.

[0005] Technical solution: An actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on a high-energy laser beam includes an end effector 2, an end effector 1, and an operation support system. The end effector 1 is mounted on the end effector 2, and the operation support system ensures the normal operation of the end effector 2 and the end effector 1, completing spatial coordinate positioning before hole making and the multi-degree-of-freedom rotation function of the end effector 1. The end effector 1 includes a high-energy laser beam processing head 5, an optical path transmission system, a displacement detection system, an industrial imaging system, and an on-machine monitoring system. The end effector 1 performs hole making on the target hole position. The hole making process sequentially involves: hole position positioning via the industrial imaging system; normal alignment of the hole position via the displacement detection system; focusing and irradiating the material surface with a high-energy laser beam after beam expansion and collimation via the optical path transmission system; and effective control of the processing depth via high-frequency image acquisition and recognition algorithms by the on-machine monitoring system.

[0006] Furthermore, the industrial imaging system includes: Imaging sensor: Used to capture image information of the positioning target on the surface to be processed. The imaging sensor is a CCD or CMOS sensor. Lighting system: Provides illumination to ensure clear image capture; the lighting system can be LED lights or lasers. Optical lens: Used to focus and adjust the angle of view of the image. A standard fixed-focus lens, zoom lens, or telecentric lens is selected according to the curvature variation of the processed surface. Image processing module: responsible for filtering interference features and extracting features from the acquired images.

[0007] Furthermore, the displacement detection system includes a normal orientation adjustment module and a displacement sensing module, wherein, The normal orientation adjustment module consists of three or more laser displacement sensors, including a laser emitter and a photodetector. The normal orientation adjustment module collects the displacement information of each point in the hole position area and balances the distance of each position through the orientation adjustment algorithm to keep the displacement measurement values ​​of each point consistent. In this way, the attitude of the end effector of the hole making equipment is adjusted to ensure that the attitude is the normal attitude of the current hole position. The displacement sensing module includes a laser displacement sensor. The laser displacement sensor is installed at the same angle as the processing direction. It senses the position and distance between the processing head and the surface to be processed when the hole is initially formed. It then adjusts the distance between the laser head and the surface to be processed to ensure that the distance is within the processing focal length range of the high-energy laser beam.

[0008] Furthermore, the laser generator is any one of a solid-state laser, a gas laser, or a liquid laser, and the excitation mode is continuous excitation or pulsed laser. The pulsed laser is selected from long pulse lasers with a pulse width > 1 ms, short pulse lasers with a pulse width < 1 ns, and ultrashort pulse lasers with a pulse width < 1 fs; ultraviolet lasers with a wavelength of 10 nm < 400 nm, visible light lasers with a wavelength of 400 nm < 700 nm, or infrared lasers with a wavelength of 700 nm < 2000 nm.

[0009] Furthermore, the optical path transmission system includes: a beam expander, a dichroic mirror, a galvanometer, and a field mirror. As the optical path transmission unit between the laser and the high-energy laser beam processing head 5, the optical path transmission system mainly modulates and reverses the beam. Among them, the beam expander and dichroic mirror adjust the beam quality, and the wedge polarizing mirror group is composed of galvanometer and field mirror. The polarization of the adjusted beam is achieved by adjusting the shape and angle of the wedge galvanometer, and the focusing of the laser beam is achieved by adjusting the numerical aperture NA of the convex lens. The wedge-shaped polarizing mirror group is controlled by the optical path control system to control its polarization angle, so that the laser beam can achieve circumferential spin cutting, thereby meeting the requirements for drilling holes of different diameters and shapes.

[0010] Furthermore, the high-energy laser beam processing head is a semi-enclosed cavity structure containing an internal flow channel, used to receive the high-energy laser beam and transmit and focus it into a small-spot laser beam with processing capability. The focusing focal length is related to the total thickness to be processed, i.e., focal length f > 2 × total thickness H; focal length f = d × D / (k × M) 2 ×λ); d is the spot diameter, D is the beam diameter before focusing, k is a constant factor, according to engineering experience k=π or k=2π, M 2 λ is the beam quality factor, and λ is the laser wavelength; The high-energy laser beam processing head includes an airflow channel for cooling-assisted purging, and the gas introduced is any one or more of nitrogen, oxygen, helium, and argon.

[0011] Furthermore, the on-machine monitoring system includes a CCD camera and a signal processing module, which are used to capture the status of the processing area in real time and combine big data models such as deep learning to effectively control the processing depth.

[0012] Furthermore, the end effector is one of a multi-axis industrial robot, a multi-axis CNC machine tool, a mobile robot, or a tracked vehicle, used to carry the end effector to complete the spatial coordinate positioning before drilling and the multi-degree-of-freedom rotation function of the end effector; the operation support system is a laser generator cooler, a wind power supply, or a laser generator controller.

[0013] A method of using the actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on a high-energy laser beam, as described above, is characterized by comprising: Step 1: The end effector, mounted on the end-effector, moves to the target location; Step 2: The positioning markers in the assembly components are identified sequentially using the industrial imaging system. After identification, they are fitted with the global coordinate system of the current station position to determine the coordinates of each positioning marker. Step 3: Generate the coordinate information of each hole-making position based on the coordinates of the positioning point. The end-effector moves sequentially to the coordinate position of the hole to be made according to the coordinate information of each hole-making position and waits for the hole to be made. Step 4: Start the normal orientation adjustment module in the displacement detection system, measure the distance between each sensor in the normal orientation adjustment module and the product hole-making surface, adjust the current end effector attitude based on the spatial vector equidistant correction algorithm, so that the displacement data collected by the three position sensors are consistent. At this time, the hole-making attitude is the normal orientation of the current hole-making position, and fix the current attitude. Step 5: Based on the current hole-making position information and performance requirements, call the execution parameters: Activate the displacement sensor in the displacement sensing module to detect the vertical distance between the current machining head position and the hole-making surface. According to the focal length formula, the focal length of the current laser beam is f = d × D / (k × M). 2 ×λ)=136.23mm, adjust the position of the sliding plate of the main processing unit so that the distance between the nozzle of the laser beam processing head and the hole-making surface is the focal length f; Step 6: Start the laser generator to begin hole making. The scanning wedge galvanometer in the optical path transmission system inside the processing head will be tilted to adjust the hole diameter according to the current hole position. Step 7: During the processing, the on-machine monitoring system remains responsive. Because the CCD camera coincides with the processing axis, images of the processing position are acquired and recorded in real time. Based on high-frame image recognition technology, the processing progress is effectively judged. When a signal of penetration of the lower hole wall appears in the image, it will be fed back to the laser generator to stop emitting light, thereby avoiding overburning of the internal structure by the laser beam. After the hole is made, the high-energy laser beam processing head retracts to a safe distance and is moved by the end moving carrier to the next hole position for hole making. This cycle is repeated until all holes to be made are completed and the machine stops.

[0014] Beneficial effects: In the field of automated drilling in aircraft assembly, to improve manufacturing capabilities for challenging machining conditions and increase equipment adaptability to various extreme conditions, this invention proposes an actuator and method for drilling connection holes in aircraft assembly based on a high-energy laser beam. This actuator completes drilling using a non-contact high-energy laser beam. This process can disregard material hardness and tool wear costs. When highly integrated with a multi-level on-board vision inspection system, it is compatible with various complex conditions in aircraft assembly, making it a highly efficient, low-cost, and high-manufacturing-capability drilling actuator. Attached Figure Description

[0015] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. The drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0016] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the overall implementing agency; Figure 2 This is an enlarged view of the end effector structure; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the internal transmission layout of an optical transmission system; Figure 4 This is the data collected by the on-machine monitoring system in the actuator.

[0017] Figure 5 The flowchart shows the operation of the end effector when performing a single-position hole-making task.

[0018] The numbers in the diagram are explained as follows: 1. End effector; 2. End moving carrier; 3. End connecting base plate; 4. Main processing unit; 5. Laser beam processing head; 6. Guide rail protective cover; 7. Industrial camera lens group; 8. Main processing unit sliding base plate; 9. Second laser displacement sensor; 10. Sliding guide rail; 11. First laser displacement sensor; 12. Third laser displacement sensor; 13. Fourth laser displacement sensor; 14. Optical path transmission system; 15. CCD camera; wedge galvanometer 141; field lens 142; 16. High-energy laser beam; 17. Pre-drilled hole. Detailed Implementation

[0019] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0020] The features and illustrative embodiments of various aspects of the present invention will now be described in detail. Numerous specific details are set forth in the following detailed description to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without requiring some of these specific details. The following description of embodiments is merely intended to provide a better understanding of the invention by illustrating examples of the invention. The invention is by no means limited to any specific setups and methods set forth below, but covers any improvements, substitutions, and modifications to structures, methods, and devices without departing from the spirit of the invention. Well-known structures and techniques are not shown in the drawings and the following description to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention.

[0021] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that the directions or positional relationships indicated by terms such as "center," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "inner," and "outer" are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings and are only for the convenience of describing and simplifying the invention, and should not be construed as limiting the invention. Furthermore, the use of ordinal numbers (e.g., "first and second," etc.) is for distinguishing objects and is not limited to this order, and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0022] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly, encompassing both direct connection and indirect connection via an intermediate medium. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of these terms in this invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0023] It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments of the present invention and the features thereof can be combined with each other, and the various embodiments can be referenced and cited in each other. The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0024] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the embodiments and accompanying drawings, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

[0025] This invention is based on a high-energy laser beam as the processing source and is highly integrated with positioning, attitude adjustment, and measurement modules suitable for hole-making conditions with weak rigidity and complex curvature. It realizes the use of laser beam to replace traditional cutting tools and is a high-efficiency, low-cost, and high-manufacturing-capability hole-making execution mechanism.

[0026] An actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on a high-energy laser beam includes an end effector 2, an end effector 1, and an operation support system. The end effector 1 is mounted on the end effector 2, and the operation support system ensures the normal operation of the end effector 2 and the end effector 1, completing spatial coordinate positioning before hole making and the multi-degree-of-freedom rotation function of the end effector 1. The end effector 1 includes a high-energy laser beam processing head 5, an optical path transmission system, a displacement detection system, an industrial imaging system, and an on-machine monitoring system. The end effector 1 performs hole making on the target hole position. The hole making process sequentially involves: hole position positioning via the industrial imaging system; normal alignment of the hole position via the displacement detection system; focusing and irradiating the material surface with a high-energy laser beam after beam expansion and collimation via the optical path transmission system; and effective control of the processing depth via high-frequency image acquisition and recognition algorithms by the on-machine monitoring system.

[0027] Furthermore, the industrial imaging system includes: Imaging sensor: Used to capture image information of the positioning target on the surface to be processed. The imaging sensor is a CCD or CMOS sensor. Lighting system: Provides illumination to ensure clear image capture; the lighting system can be LED lights or lasers. Optical lens: Used to focus and adjust the angle of view of the image. A standard fixed-focus lens, zoom lens, or telecentric lens is selected according to the curvature variation of the processed surface. Image processing module: responsible for filtering interference features and extracting features from the acquired images.

[0028] Furthermore, the displacement detection system includes a normal orientation adjustment module and a displacement sensing module, wherein, The normal orientation adjustment module consists of three or more laser displacement sensors, including a laser emitter and a photodetector. The normal orientation adjustment module collects the displacement information of each point in the hole position area and balances the distance of each position through the orientation adjustment algorithm to keep the displacement measurement values ​​of each point consistent. In this way, the attitude of the end effector of the hole making equipment is adjusted to ensure that the attitude is the normal attitude of the current hole position. The displacement sensing module includes a laser displacement sensor. The laser displacement sensor is installed at the same angle as the processing direction. It senses the position and distance between the processing head and the surface to be processed when the hole is initially formed. It then adjusts the distance between the laser head and the surface to be processed to ensure that the distance is within the processing focal length range of the high-energy laser beam.

[0029] Furthermore, the laser generator is any one of a solid-state laser, a gas laser, or a liquid laser, and the excitation mode is continuous excitation or pulsed laser. The pulsed laser is selected from long pulse lasers with a pulse width > 1 ms, short pulse lasers with a pulse width < 1 ns, and ultrashort pulse lasers with a pulse width < 1 fs; ultraviolet lasers with a wavelength of 10 nm < 400 nm, visible light lasers with a wavelength of 400 nm < 700 nm, or infrared lasers with a wavelength of 700 nm < 2000 nm.

[0030] Furthermore, the optical path transmission system includes: a beam expander, a dichroic mirror, a galvanometer, and a field mirror. As the optical path transmission unit between the laser and the high-energy laser beam processing head 5, the optical path transmission system mainly modulates and reverses the beam. Among them, the beam expander and dichroic mirror adjust the beam quality, and the wedge polarizing mirror group is composed of galvanometer and field mirror. The polarization of the adjusted beam is achieved by adjusting the shape and angle of the wedge galvanometer, and the focusing of the laser beam is achieved by adjusting the numerical aperture NA of the convex lens. The wedge-shaped polarizing mirror group is controlled by the optical path control system to control its polarization angle, so that the laser beam can achieve circumferential spin cutting, thereby meeting the requirements for drilling holes of different diameters and shapes.

[0031] Furthermore, the high-energy laser beam processing head is a semi-enclosed cavity structure containing an internal flow channel, used to receive the high-energy laser beam and transmit and focus it into a small-spot laser beam with processing capability. The focusing focal length is related to the total thickness to be processed, i.e., focal length f > 2 × total thickness H; focal length f = d × D / (k × M) 2 ×λ); d is the spot diameter, D is the beam diameter before focusing, k is a constant factor, according to engineering experience k=π or k=2π, M 2 λ is the beam quality factor, and λ is the laser wavelength; The high-energy laser beam processing head includes an airflow channel for cooling-assisted purging, and the gas introduced is any one or more of nitrogen, oxygen, helium, and argon.

[0032] Furthermore, the on-machine monitoring system includes a CCD camera and a signal processing module, which are used to capture the status of the processing area in real time and combine big data models such as deep learning to effectively control the processing depth.

[0033] Furthermore, the end effector is one of a multi-axis industrial robot, a multi-axis CNC machine tool, a mobile robot, or a tracked vehicle, used to carry the end effector to complete the spatial coordinate positioning before drilling and the multi-degree-of-freedom rotation function of the end effector; the operation support system is a laser generator cooler, a wind power supply, or a laser generator controller.

[0034] A method of using the actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on a high-energy laser beam, as described above, is characterized by comprising: Step 1: The end effector, mounted on the end mobile carrier, moves to the target location; Step 2: The positioning markers in the assembly components are identified sequentially using the industrial imaging system. After identification, they are fitted with the global coordinate system of the current station position to determine the coordinates of each positioning marker. Step 3: Generate the coordinate information of each hole-making position based on the coordinates of the positioning point. The end-effector moves sequentially to the coordinate position of the hole to be made according to the coordinate information of each hole-making position and waits for the hole to be made. Step 4: Start the normal orientation adjustment module in the displacement detection system, measure the distance between each sensor in the normal orientation adjustment module and the product hole-making surface, adjust the current end effector attitude based on the spatial vector equidistant correction algorithm, so that the displacement data collected by the three position sensors are consistent. At this time, the hole-making attitude is the normal orientation of the current hole-making position, and fix the current attitude. Step 5: Based on the current hole-making position information and performance requirements, call the execution parameters: Activate the displacement sensor in the displacement sensing module to detect the vertical distance between the current machining head position and the hole-making surface. According to the focal length formula, the focal length of the current laser beam is f = d × D / (k × M). 2 ×λ)=136.23mm, adjust the position of the sliding plate of the main processing unit so that the distance between the nozzle of the laser beam processing head and the hole-making surface is the focal length f; Step 6: Start the laser generator to begin hole making. The scanning wedge galvanometer in the optical path transmission system inside the processing head will be tilted to adjust the hole diameter according to the current hole position. Step 7: During the processing, the on-machine monitoring system remains responsive. Because the CCD camera coincides with the processing axis, images of the processing position are acquired and recorded in real time. Based on high-frame image recognition technology, the processing progress is effectively judged. When a signal of penetration of the lower hole wall appears in the image, it will be fed back to the laser generator to stop emitting light, thereby avoiding overburning of the internal structure by the laser beam. After the hole is made, the high-energy laser beam processing head retracts to a safe distance and is moved by the end moving carrier to the next hole position for hole making. This cycle is repeated until all holes to be made are completed and the machine stops.

[0035] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. The following examples are for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

[0036] Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of an actuator for an aircraft assembly connection hole based on a high-energy laser beam, provided in an embodiment of this disclosure. The end effector 1 is moved and positioned by a six-axis robot 2, which is fixedly connected by a flange. The main processing unit 4 of the end effector is fixed to the substrate 3 by a sliding guide rail 10. The high-energy laser beam is expanded, collimated, and focused by a laser generator and emitted from the nozzle of the processing head 5. After acting on the material, it removes the material.

[0037] Figure 2 This is an enlarged view of the end effector structure. It includes a high-energy laser beam processing head 5, an optical path transmission system 14, a displacement detection system (first laser displacement sensor 11, second laser displacement sensor 9, third laser displacement sensor 12, and fourth laser displacement sensor 13), an industrial imaging system 7, and an on-machine monitoring system 15. The main processing unit of the end effector is nested in a sliding base plate 8 and fixed to a sliding guide rail 10 in a base plate 3. An industrial camera lens group 7 for reference positioning and identification is mounted in the base plate, and the measurement orientation is the product direction. A dust cover 6 is used for protection to ensure the movement accuracy of the slide rail.

[0038] For example, when an assembly component enters the drilling station, a laser with a wavelength of λ=1064nm and a beam quality factor M is used. 2 =1.1 A continuous laser with a spot diameter of 0.5mm is used as the main processing source for hole making. A mobile carrier carrying an end effector moves to the target position. The positioning markers in the assembly part are identified sequentially through an industrial camera lens group. After identification, the coordinates of each positioning marker are fitted with the global coordinate system of the current position to determine the coordinates of each positioning marker. Based on the coordinates of the positioning points, the coordinate information of each hole-making position is generated. The mobile carrier moves sequentially to the coordinate position of the hole to be made according to the information and waits for the hole to be made. Displacement sensors 2, 3, and 4 are activated to measure the distance of each sensor from the product. The distance to the hole-making profile is adjusted based on a spatial vector equidistant correction algorithm to maintain consistency in the displacement data collected by the three position sensors. At this point, the hole-making posture is the normal posture of the current hole-making position, and this posture is fixed. Execution parameters are called according to the current hole-making position's working conditions and performance requirements. For example, the laminate type includes composite materials and aluminum alloys, the total laminate thickness is 20mm, and the hole diameter is 6mm. Displacement sensor 1 is activated to detect the vertical distance between the current processing head position and the hole-making profile. Based on this calculation formula, the focal length of the current laser beam is f = d × D / (k × M). 2(×λ)=136.23mm. During hole making, it is necessary to ensure that the laser spot focus is located on the upper surface of the hole-making surface. Therefore, the position of the sliding substrate of the main processing unit is adjusted so that the distance between the nozzle of the laser beam processing head and the hole-making surface is the focal length f. The laser generator is started to begin hole making. The scanning wedge galvanometer in the optical path transmission system inside the processing head is tilted according to the current hole diameter and rotated cyclically along a path with a diameter of 6mm. During the processing, the on-machine monitoring system always keeps responding. Because the CCD camera is aligned with the processing axis, the image of the processing position is acquired and recorded in real time. Based on high frame image recognition technology, the processing progress is effectively judged. When a signal of penetration of the lower hole wall appears in the image, it will be fed back to the laser generator to stop the light emission, thereby avoiding overburning of the internal structure by the laser beam. After the hole making is completed, the processing head is retracted to a safe distance and moved by the moving carrier to the next hole position for hole making. This cycle is repeated until all holes to be made are completed and the machine is stopped.

[0039] Figure 3 This diagram illustrates the internal optical mirror assembly of the optical path transmission system within the actuator. To achieve effective control over the optical path transmission and thus enable the fabrication of irregularly shaped holes with different apertures and shapes, a multi-stage wedge-shaped mirror assembly is employed to achieve large-angle oscillation of the laser beam, thereby effectively controlling the parallel beam transmission path. This method eliminates the need for mechanical guide rails to drive the machining head, allowing the laser beam to oscillate circumferentially while the machining head remains stationary, achieving hole fabrication. This design significantly reduces the size and integration complexity of the end effector, making the processing more flexible and effectively improving the equipment's adaptability to complex working conditions.

[0040] Figure 4 This data is collected by the on-machine monitoring system within the actuator. A dihedral mirror is installed in the optical transmission system to create an optical path between the CCD camera in the monitoring module and the processing beam. The monitoring system can then perceive the processing status in real time through the images captured by the CCD camera. Based on a deep learning model and combined with high-frame-rate real-time images of the processing process, intelligent real-time penetration sensing and detection are achieved, preventing damage to the internal structure after the laser beam penetrates the processing surface, effectively protecting the wall.

[0041] Figure 5The flowchart shows the operation of the end effector when performing a single-position hole-making task. Using a specific product as the target for hole making, after the component is mounted and positioned, the mobile carrier carrying the end effector moves to the hole-making station. The product's positioning target is identified sequentially to complete coordinate system positioning. Based on the coordinate information of the hole to be made, the end effector moves to the target position. The displacement detection system is activated to measure the displacement signals at various angles at the current position, and based on this data, the end effector is adjusted to ensure the processing axis coincides with the normal direction of the hole area. The displacement detection system is activated again to detect the distance between the processing head's light outlet and the product surface, adjusting the processing head's extension so that the laser spot focus is on the surface of the surface. According to the current hole position's specifications, such as hole diameter, countersunk hole, or through hole, the beam cutting radius and angle are adjusted through the optical path control system to achieve processing. The in-machine inspection system based on vision measurement technology monitors the depth in real time, achieving effective control of the processing depth while ensuring the protection of the cavity structure of the assembly. After hole making at the current position is completed, the laser source and optical path system are braked through relevant controllers. The end effector axially retracts to a safe position and moves to the next control position to await further operation.

[0042] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on a high-energy laser beam, characterized in that, This includes the end-effector, the end-effector, and the operational support system; among which, The end-effector is equipped with an end-effector and an auxiliary system is used to ensure the normal operation of the end-effector and the end-effector, and to complete the spatial coordinate positioning before drilling and the multi-degree-of-freedom rotation function of the end-effector. The end effector includes: a high-energy laser beam processing head, an optical path transmission system, a displacement detection system, an industrial imaging system, and an on-machine monitoring system. The end effector completes the hole-making function of the target hole position. The hole-making process is carried out by the following steps: the industrial imaging system realizes hole position positioning, the displacement detection system realizes the normal alignment of the hole position, the high-energy laser beam is expanded and collimated by the laser generator and the optical path transmission system, and then focused and irradiated onto the material surface by the high-energy laser beam processing head to make holes. During the processing, the on-machine monitoring system acquires processing images at high frequency and combines them with recognition algorithms to achieve effective control of the processing depth.

2. The actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on high-energy laser beams according to claim 1, characterized in that, The industrial imaging system includes: Imaging sensor: Used to capture image information of the positioning target on the surface to be processed. The imaging sensor is a CCD or CMOS sensor. Lighting system: Provides illumination to ensure clear image capture; the lighting system can be LED lights or lasers. Optical lens: Used to focus and adjust the angle of view of the image. A standard fixed-focus lens, zoom lens, or telecentric lens is selected according to the curvature variation of the processed surface. Image processing module: responsible for filtering interference features and extracting features from the acquired images.

3. The actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on high-energy laser beams according to claim 1, characterized in that, The displacement detection system includes a normal orientation adjustment module and a displacement sensing module, wherein... The normal orientation adjustment module consists of three or more laser displacement sensors, including a laser emitter and a photodetector. The normal orientation adjustment module collects the displacement information of each point in the hole position area and balances the distance of each position through the orientation adjustment algorithm to keep the displacement measurement values ​​of each point consistent. In this way, the attitude of the end effector of the hole making equipment is adjusted to ensure that the attitude is the normal attitude of the current hole position. The displacement sensing module includes a laser displacement sensor. The laser displacement sensor is installed at the same angle as the processing direction. It senses the position and distance between the processing head and the surface to be processed when the hole is initially formed. It then adjusts the distance between the laser head and the surface to be processed to ensure that the distance is within the processing focal length range of the high-energy laser beam.

4. The actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on high-energy laser beams according to claim 1, characterized in that, The laser generator can be any one of a solid-state laser, a gas laser, or a liquid laser, and the excitation mode can be continuous excitation or pulsed laser. The pulsed laser can be a long pulse laser with a pulse width > 1 ms, a short pulse laser with a pulse width < 1 ns, or an ultrashort pulse laser with a pulse width < 1 fs; or an ultraviolet laser with a wavelength of 10 nm < 400 nm, a visible light laser with a wavelength of 400 nm < 700 nm, or an infrared laser with a wavelength of 700 nm < 2000 nm.

5. The actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on high-energy laser beams according to claim 1, characterized in that, The optical path transmission system includes: a beam expander, a dichroic mirror, a galvanometer, and a field mirror. As the optical path transmission unit between the laser and the high-energy laser beam processing head, the optical path transmission system mainly modulates and reverses the beam. Among them, the beam expander and dichroic mirror adjust the beam quality, and the wedge polarizing mirror group is composed of galvanometer and field mirror. The polarization of the adjusted beam is achieved by adjusting the shape and angle of the wedge galvanometer, and the focusing of the laser beam is achieved by adjusting the numerical aperture NA of the convex lens. The wedge-shaped polarizing mirror group is controlled by the optical path control system to control its polarization angle, so that the laser beam can achieve circumferential spin cutting, thereby meeting the requirements for drilling holes of different diameters and shapes.

6. The actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on high-energy laser beams according to claim 1, characterized in that, The high-energy laser beam processing head is a semi-enclosed cavity structure containing an internal flow channel, used to receive high-energy laser beams and transmit and focus them into a small-spot laser beam with processing capabilities. The focusing focal length is related to the total thickness to be processed, i.e., focal length f > 2 × total thickness H; focal length f = d × D / (k × M) 2 ×λ); d is the spot diameter, D is the beam diameter before focusing, k is a constant factor, according to engineering experience k=π or k=2π, M 2 λ is the beam quality factor, and λ is the laser wavelength; The high-energy laser beam processing head includes an airflow channel for cooling-assisted purging, and the gas introduced is any one or more of nitrogen, oxygen, helium, and argon.

7. The actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on high-energy laser beams according to claim 1, characterized in that, The on-machine monitoring system includes a CCD camera and a signal processing module, which is used to capture the status of the processing area in real time and effectively control the processing depth by combining big data models such as deep learning.

8. The actuator for aircraft assembly connection holes based on high-energy laser beams according to claim 1, characterized in that, The end effector is one of the following: a multi-axis industrial robot, a multi-axis CNC machine tool, a mobile robot, or a tracked vehicle. It is used to carry the end effector to complete the spatial coordinate positioning before drilling and the multi-degree-of-freedom rotation function of the end effector. The operation support system is a laser generator cooler, a wind power supply, or a laser generator controller.

9. A method of using an actuator for an aircraft assembly connection hole based on a high-energy laser beam as described in any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, include: Step 1: The end effector, mounted on the end-effector, moves to the target location; Step 2: The positioning markers in the assembly components are identified sequentially using the industrial imaging system. After identification, they are fitted with the global coordinate system of the current station position to determine the coordinates of each positioning marker. Step 3: Generate the coordinate information of each hole-making position based on the coordinates of the positioning point. The end-effector moves sequentially to the coordinate position of the hole to be made according to the coordinate information of each hole-making position and waits for the hole to be made. Step 4: Start the normal orientation adjustment module in the displacement detection system, measure the distance between each sensor in the normal orientation adjustment module and the product hole-making surface, adjust the current end effector attitude based on the spatial vector equidistant correction algorithm, so that the displacement data collected by the three position sensors are consistent. At this time, the hole-making attitude is the normal orientation of the current hole-making position, and fix the current attitude. Step 5: Based on the current hole-making position information and performance requirements, call the execution parameters: Activate the displacement sensor in the displacement sensing module to detect the vertical distance between the current machining head position and the hole-making surface. According to the focal length formula, the focal length of the current laser beam is f = d × D / (k × M). 2 ×λ)=136.23mm, adjust the position of the sliding plate of the main processing unit so that the distance between the nozzle of the laser beam processing head and the hole-making surface is the focal length f; Step 6: Start the laser generator to begin hole making. The scanning wedge galvanometer in the optical path transmission system inside the processing head will be tilted to adjust the hole diameter according to the current hole position. Step 7: During the processing, the on-machine monitoring system always keeps responding. Because the CCD camera is aligned with the processing axis, the image of the processing position is collected and recorded in real time. Based on high frame rate image recognition technology, the processing progress is effectively judged. When a signal of penetration of the lower hole wall appears in the image, it will be fed back to the laser generator to stop emitting light, thereby avoiding overburning of the internal structure by the laser beam. After the hole is made, the high-energy laser beam processing head retracts to a safe distance and is moved by the end moving carrier to the next hole position for hole making. This process is repeated until all holes to be made are completed and the machine stops.

Images