RFID Drill Plate Guidance for Precise Vehicle Fastener Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for drilling holes and installing fasteners in aerospace or vehicle structures either result in high costs and complexity or are prone to errors due to manual processes, with a lack of efficient and cost-effective solutions that balance quality and expense.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising smart drill plates with machine-readable elements, drill guns, and fastener insertion guns that communicate drilling and fastener parameters, ensuring accurate hole drilling and fastener installation through RFID technology and electronic control, reducing human error and training time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If highly automated machines are used to drill holes and install fasteners, then manufacturing precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces drill plates with machine-readable elements as intermediaries between the simple manual drilling process and complex automated systems. The drill plates contain encoded information about hole locations, dimensions, and fastener specifications, guiding operators through the drilling and fastening process without requiring expensive automated machinery. This intermediary device provides precision guidance while keeping the overall system simple and cost-effective.
2Manufacturing precision
If highly automated machines are used to drill holes and install fasteners, then manufacturing precision is improved, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses machine-readable elements (such as RFID tags, barcodes, or data matrices) that contain copies of the precise drilling and fastening information. Instead of expensive automated machines, the system encodes all necessary specifications into these readable elements on the drill plates, which operators then scan and follow. This copying approach transfers the intelligence of automated systems into simple, low-cost information carriers that guide manual operations with high precision.
3Device complexity
If manual drilling and fastening methods are used, then device complexity is reduced, but manufacturing precision and reliability deteriorate due to human error
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where machine-readable elements on the drill plates provide real-time information to operators about the correct hole locations, dimensions, and fastener specifications. The system reads this encoded information and guides the operator through each step, confirming proper drilling parameters and fastener installation. This feedback loop ensures high precision and reliability while keeping the physical system simple and manual.
4Device complexity
If manual drilling and fastening methods are used, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to operator errors and training requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The drill plates with machine-readable elements are self-servicing in that they contain all the necessary information and instructions for proper drilling and fastening operations. The system automatically provides guidance, checks, and confirmation steps without requiring extensive operator training or intervention. The encoded information on the drill plates serves itself to ensure correct procedures are followed, dramatically improving reliability while keeping operations simple.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system significantly reduces defects by 90% and lowers costs by providing a high-quality, automated process that is easier to train for operators, combining the benefits of automated systems with reduced complexity and expense.
Implementation Method 1
a machine-readable element associated with the opening and providing information regarding drilling the hole and installing the fastener in the hole
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for drilling a hole in a vehicle structure and installing a fastener in the hole. A drill plate having openings and associated machine-readable elements is positioned on the structure. A drill gun is positioned in a particular opening and reads hole information from the associated element, and a computer determines whether the drill gun is properly set-up to drill the hole. A fastener insertion gun is positioned in the particular opening and reads fastener information from the element, and the computer determines whether the hole has been drilled and, if so, whether the fastener insertion gun is properly set-up to insert the fastener. A fastener delivery subsystem stores, tracks, and delivers fasteners to the fastener insertion gun. A system computer monitors the drilling of every hole, the insertion of every fastener, and the overall operation of the fastener delivery subsystem.