• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy
    • Terms of use
  • Advertise
    • Advertising
    • Case studies
    • Design
    • Email marketing
    • Features list
    • Lead generation
    • Magazine
    • Press releases
    • Publishing
    • Sponsor an article
    • Webcasting
    • Webinars
    • White papers
    • Writing
  • Subscribe to Newsletter

Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

  • Home
  • News
  • Features
  • Editorial Sections A-Z
    • Agriculture
    • Aircraft
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Automation
    • Autonomous vehicles
    • Business
    • Computing
    • Construction
    • Culture
    • Design
    • Drones
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Engineering
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Humanoids
    • Industrial robots
    • Industry
    • Infrastructure
    • Investments
    • Logistics
    • Manufacturing
    • Marine
    • Material handling
    • Materials
    • Mining
    • Promoted
    • Research
    • Robotics
    • Science
    • Sensors
    • Service robots
    • Software
    • Space
    • Technology
    • Transportation
    • Warehouse robots
    • Wearables
  • Press releases
  • Events

Lufthansa Technik unveils robot that can scan and fix a plane’s outer layer tiles

October 11, 2017 by Sam Francis

 

Lufthansa Technik has demonstrated a robot which can scan the outer later of aeroplanes and work at odd angles to help with any necessary maintenance and repair jobs. 

Lufthansa Technik generally fixes planes for its parent company Lufthansa, one of the world’s largest airlines, and undertakes work for a variety of aerospace companies.

The new robot is part of the Caire project – short for Composite Adaptable Inspection and Repair – which includes airline industry companies such as Airbus and Lufthansa Technik.

Lufthansa Technik was looking for a way to reduce the amount of time and effort required to determine and repair damage to an aircraft’s outer layer, which is generally made up of lots of pieces – or tiles – of fiber-reinforced composite material joined up using the scarf, or scarph, method of joinery.

Examining each join and analysing it to see whether it needs any repairs was, naturally, a time-consuming – not to say tedious – task.

 

CAIRE by Lufthansa Technik

Now, Lufthansa Technik says the Caire robot is up to the job of scanning to see what needs fixing and then working at a variety of angles – including upside down – to fix any defects.

The company has filed two patents in relation to its invention and is likely to offer it to other companies. Its current plan is to bring the Caire robot into its own operations by the end of next year.

Lufthansa Technik is also working on industrializing the mobile system.

The company says targeted use of the scarf joining robot not only results in cost and time savings, the new procedure also significantly increases quality, since it makes entirely new repair geometries possible.

The mobile robot can also recognize free-form 3D surfaces, says Lufthansa.

To make a scarf joint, the robot is placed on a fixing device attached to the component with suction cups.

Specially developed software allows the mobile robot to process 1,000 x 1,000 millimeter surfaces and thick fiber-reinforced composite structures, such as wing connection areas.

For this purpose, it scans the damage, identifies the surface and calculates both the form of the scarf joint and the milling path before cutting out the damaged material.

Afterwards, the repair layers are cut to size and inserted into the 3D scarfing surface created by the robot. The newly inserted part is then manually glued to the fuselage and cured.

The robot enables “a highly flexible repair procedure for structures made of fiber-reinforced composites”, claims Lufthansa Technik.

Lufthansa Technik describes its machine as a “scarf joining robot”, and preparations are under way to put the new system into commercial operation.

The robot demonstrator developed during the Caire research and development project successfully passed all its tests, says the company.

Trials on individual components as well as on entire aircraft proved that both reproducible repairs of damages and purely adhesive-based repairs on critical structures made of fiber-reinforced composites are possible.

In addition, the robot can even be used for mobile repairs, claims Lufthansa.

Caire project manager Dr Henrik Schmutzler says: “The patent applications relate to a positioning mechanism and a procedure for increasing processing accuracy.

“Thanks to the positioning mechanism, employees can precisely position the scarf joining robot anywhere on the aircraft without anyone else’s assistance – whether from the side, from above with an overhead crane or even upside down with the help of hoisting gear.

“The increases in accuracy go far beyond what is possible with other industrial robots.”

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket

Related stories you might also like…

Filed Under: Industry, News Tagged With: aircraft maintenance and repair robot, lufthansa, lufthansa caire robot, lufthansa technik

Primary Sidebar

Search this website

Latest articles

  • How Advanced Welding is Transforming Auto Repair
  • Top Digital Tools for Managing a Hybrid Workforce in the Automation Industry
  • automatica Summit: Megatrends in robotics and AI
  • Palantir and Divergent partner to ‘revolutionize’ on-demand advanced manufacturing
  • Semiconductor manufacturing faces labor crisis: Can the US train enough workers in time?
  • Energy company Carrier to invest additional $1 billion in US manufacturing
  • Incheon Airport continues automation push with electric vehicle charging robots from Hyundai
  • Hyundai installs AI-powered EV charging robots at South Korean airport
  • Japanese space agency awards GITAI contract to develop unique robotic arm
  • Why Rockwell Automation’s share price has surged more than 30 percent since April

Secondary Sidebar

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT