Optical Coordinate Measuring System for Aircraft Component Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current measurement technologies for aircraft components with close tolerances, such as coordinate measurement machines and three-dimensional scanning, fall short in achieving precise locational accuracy and minimizing tolerance stack-up, especially in the integration of composite materials for aircraft structures.
Innovation Solution
An optical coordinate measuring system (OCMS) that incorporates integral three-dimensional optical reticle image arrays on aircraft components, allowing for precise capture of component surfaces through multiple scanned poses and post-scan optimization to form composite measurements, enabling accurate system integration and reduced on-board drilling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If coordinate measurement machines and three-dimensional scanning are used for aircraft components, then measurement capability is improved, but measurement precision and locational accuracy deteriorate due to tolerance stack-up
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces optical reticle image arrays as intermediary reference markers attached to aircraft components. These reticles serve as mediators between the component surfaces and the measurement system, providing known geometric references that enable the inertial 3-D scanner to accurately determine component poses and positions despite build variations and tolerance stack-up
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates an optical copy of the component geometry by scanning the reticle patterns and reconstructing 3-D point clouds. This optical copying approach allows virtual measurement and analysis without physical contact, preserving measurement precision while enabling comprehensive geometric capture of complex aircraft components
2Area of stationary object
If multiple scanned poses are collated to form composite measurements, then measurement coverage is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the measurement process into multiple scanned poses, where each pose captures a specific field of view of the component. The reticle arrays are segmented across different surfaces and orientations, allowing the measurement system to break down complex geometries into manageable segments that can be individually measured and then assembled into complete composite measurements
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from 2-D reticle patterns on component surfaces to 3-D composite measurements through pose collation. By adding the temporal and spatial dimensions of multiple scanned poses, the system reconstructs complete 3-D geometry from multiple 2-D views, extending measurement coverage beyond any single field of view
Data Source
AI summary
An optical coordinate measuring system (OCMS) for manufactured components having build variations that require splices for accurate integration of the components. The OCMS includes manufacturing the components that include integral three dimensional optical reticle image arrays affixed to predetermined surfaces of the components, such that those surfaces can be optically captured in three dimensional composite measurements associated with various 3-D scanned poses. Each pose includes an orthogonal pair of grid lines, and each pose involves a single field of view. A plurality of poses can then be collated to form composite measurements that extend out-of-range of any single pose. The three dimensional optical reticle image arrays can be concave or convex, ideally formed as an integral part of each as-manufactured component. The three dimensional aspect enhances scanning clarity of each scanned pose, thus assuring greater accuracies of composite measurements that result from any plurality of collated poses.