Advanced Robots Help Build Better Aircraft

Community-college research centre helps aircraft manufacturers increase precision and reliability

Making new components for aircraft can be expensive. It demands high precision and leaves little room for error. To help aircraft makers produce aircraft components more reliably, a team of experts at Édouard Montpetit College’s Aerospace Technology Centre (ATC) in St-Hubert, Quebec is developing a robotic machining system. The ATC’s goal is to fully automate machining, eliminating the chance of human error in the production of components such as fuselage panels. Sensors built into the system will let technicians locate and diagnose production problems before they lead to tool breakage or have other undesired impacts. Several Montreal-area aerospace companies, including Pratt & Whitney Canada, Bombardier Aerospace, Meloche Group and Mesotec, are working with the researchers at the ATC. The results of their research are already being applied to give the Canadian aerospace sector an edge over its global competitors.