LaserTAU

The 15-month LaserTAU project, a collaboration between TWI and CAV Advanced Technologies from the UK and Prodtex, Cognibotics and Corebond from Sweden, aimed to establish the ability of a processing cell to fabricate and manufacture large-scale aerospace components and assemblies. This was achieved through the development of a new robot platform – the TAU Robot – combined with laser processing capability.

Laser processing can enable higher productivity in manufacturing aerospace structures. However, the lack of large-scale, cost-effective manipulator has limited the applicability of the process – LaserTAU addressed this by combining laser processing with the ‘TAU’ robot platform.

In this project, the LaserTAU project consortium successfully demonstrated a long working envelope offering faster and cheaper assembly with higher precision compared with other robotic welding techniques. The LaserTau robot provides six degree of freedom (DOF) movements with no motors close to the end-effector. The new platform can deliver extreme accuracy of below 10microns with high stiffness, a large open workspace and reconfigurable on-site capabilities to manufacture aerospace structures.

Project achievements included modelling of the system, establishing an efficient control methodology and commissioning with a laser process head. This then led to a demonstration weld, based on a typical aerospace wing skin type geometry.

The laserTAU project has been followed up by the ETAU project, funded by InnovateUK. ETAU brings the original UK partners together with partners from the automotive sector to build on the welding capability by adding sensors to assure quality during processing.