In this paper, the industry courses and the key-elements of driving intelligent-manufacturing-system (IMS) development have been reviewed. Focusing on the requirement of discrete-manufacturing with mass-varieties and small-batches, we analyze the structure, components and elements of IMS, discuss the principle, design methods, and the key-technology about IMS, put forward the model of modularization-intelligent-unit, and finally, give example models of manufacturing process and structure of mechanical-processing, provide reference for the application of intelligent manufacturing in aviation industry.

Aiming at flexible digital assembly process of aircraft large components, a 3D visual monitoring method of drilling process for aircraft wings is proposed based on real time onsite data in order to relieve the problems such as poorly openness of component local area, limited observation view of operators, lower level visualization of drilling process information. A data set of drilling system for onsite monitoring visualization is presented. A process for data integration between virtual and physical drilling scenario is described. Multiple 3D view management of virtual scenario and real time visualization of drilling hole feature are elaborated according to the actual requirements. A prototyping system for 3D visualization onsite monitoring of drilling process is developed based on the CAITA platform. By establishing network connection with onsite equipment servers, the system can real-time receive and display multi-dimensional information of drilling process intuitively and dynamically, which improves the onsite monitoring capability of aircraft large components drilling process.

Adaptive NC machining technology has obvious advantages in the machining of high-powered Aeroengine products and prolonging life overhaul machine products, which is based on flexible manufacturing and adaptive control. Adaptive control factors include stock, error, precision, cutting speed, feed speed, cutting force and so on, in the course of NC machining, which mostly embody four aspects: adaptive control for space geometrical position of workpiece, adaptive control for clamping position of parts, adaptive control for cutting load and adaptive control for machine tool production operation. In the paper, the aero-engine product adaptability processing technology and its key technologies are comprehensively elaborated, and the application of adaptive numerical control processing and control elements are discussed. Finally, it is pointed out that adaptive NC machining technology is an effective method to improve the machining efficiency and accuracy of NC machining, and the adaptive NC machining technology of intelligent control will become an important development direction of intelligent manufacturing.

Aerospace products with many varieties, small quantities and high assembly process requirements, are usually assembled manually, which brings a very high demand on assembly operators. In order to provide cognitively comprehensible assembly operation guidance for operators, both operation instruction and on-site operation experience have been analyzed, and then a process information modeling method for on-site aware augmented reality (AR) operation guidance system has been studied. On the basis of computer vision techniques of object recognition, behavior recognition and 3D object tracking, a prototype system for aerospace product assembly operation training has been implemented, realizing both on-site AR guidance and automatic operation recording, which improves the efficiency and accuracy of manual operation tasks.

In the trend of organizational change from static centralized hierarchy to dynamic distributed network structure, the manufacturing system presents new features such as dynamic, complex and autonomous. As a new method to solve the problem of complex, dynamic and distributed artificial intelligence applications, Agent technology has been widely used in intelligent manufacturing and digital workshop. The goal of intelligent manufacturing and digital workshop is both to achieve the interaction and integration of physical space and information space. Around the goal and the new features of the manufacturing system, firstly, the virtual-real synthesis manufacturing system is introduced briefly. Then the application and research status of Agent-based modeling, simulation and supervisory control of manufacturing system are summarized. Finally, the development trend of Agent-based manufacturing system modeling and simulation is prospected.

Intelligent assembly unit is the basic production unit of intelligent assembly, which can effectively improve the quality of aircraft assembly. Based on the concept of intelligent manufacturing, the connotation and composition of the intelligent assembly unit of aircraft are put forward. Then the key technologies to realize the state perception, real-time analysis, decision-making, precision implementation of the aircraft intelligent assembly process are researched. Finally, the intelligent assembly unit for aircraft panel is constructed.

This paper analyzes the characteristics of fieldbus and industrial Ethernet in the shop floor network, and draws the conclusion that the application of industrial Ethernet in the shop floor network is inevitable. Based on the analysis of the existing industrial Ethernet communication protocols, the amount of data is too large in the communication process. This problem causes that the real-time of information is difficult to be met. The protocol which is based on TCP/IP is developed for characteristics of the IoT-based manufacturing and used to achieve real-time communication among information layers in IoT-based manufacturing workshops. The case analysis indicates that this protocol simplifies complexity of traditional communication protocols, reduces the amount of data obviously in the communication process, improves efficiency of the communication and satisfies the real-time communication requirements in IoT-based manufacturing.

The harsh performance and requirements of near-space supersonic aircraft (NSSA) pose a serious challenge for the materials selection. Short-time heat-resistant titanium alloys with high temperature, low density, high specific strength, high specific stiffness, excellent manufacturing and processing forming properties has become the preferred material for the manufacturing of NSSA. Based on the performance and materials selection requirements of the NSSA, starting from the needs of practical engineering application in three aspects of properties, manufacturing cost and forming process, this article proposeds some thoughts and suggestions concerning usage of short-time heat-resistant titanium alloys in the structures of aircraft, which aims to provide references for the material selection, design and development of the structure of NSSA.

In order to ensure uniform stress on the surface of friable structure while flexible loading, we use finite element method to simulate the load of hyperelastic material, analyzing and optimizing the uniformity of contact stress on the friable structure. According to the characteristics of hyperelastic cushion under pressure, a model for evaluating the uniformity of contact stress is established. Based on the analysis of simulation results of the basic model, two optimization models are proposed to reduce the friction factor and to change the cushion structure; Aiming at the results of finite element simulation, an experiment of flexible load is carried out to verify the validity of the finite element model. The results show that the finite element model can, too some extent, accurately describe the actual situation of robot loading on the friable structure, and the two optimization models can effectively improve the uniformity of the stress on the surface of the tile; Compared with the basic model, the equivalent coverage ratio of the optimized model with 20mm hole is 77.44%, which improves the uniformity by 15%. This result will provide a theoretical basis for the design and optimization of hyperelastic cushion in the future.

SiC particle reinforced aluminum metal matrix composite material (SiCp/Al MMCs) has a poor machinability,especially in the machining process of internal threads. Based on analyzing grinding machinability of SiCp/Al MMCs, the helical grinding method of internal threads with a super abrasive grinding wheel is developed and the helical grinding experiments are carried out utilizing an electroplated CBN grinding wheel. The experimental results show that the helical grinding method has the feasibility and flexibility. On the condition of grinding speed vs= 5.86m/s and feed rate vf= 80mm/min, CBN forming wheel presents an excellent grinding performance. A grinding wheel can finish 17 internal threads (M8), of which the quality meets the requirement of 6H thread plug gauge inspection. Meanwhile, the micro morphology of utilized grinding wheel shows that the wheel wear is mainly on the abrasive wear and only a few abrasive grains fall off from the wheel surface. All the experimental results indicate that the helical grinding method using the electroplated CBN wheel is effective in the machining internal threads of SiCp/Al MMCs with high machining efficiency and surfacequality. Thus, this grinding process has a great engineering application value.

For forming die of composite material aircraft radome which is designed and manufactured by paragraphing and casting way, the parameterized design method is applied to its design, improving the design efficiency and shortening the design cycle. With the designing experience of tooling design workers, the parameterized design process is determined by analyzing forming die structure characteristics and modeling demands. The main designing parameters of every segment of forming die are extracted by analyzing its specific structure. Based on CATIA, the parameterized design system about forming die of aircraft radome of paragraphing and casting way is developed.

In order to solve the conversion parameters of the laser tracker and the robot coordinate system quickly and accurately, a coordinate transformation method based on tool calibration and common point conversion is proposed. Firstly, the target ball was fixed on the robot end tool, the robot was taught to teach six different positions, and the center coordinates were measured by the laser tracker. Then, the position of the target ball in the robot coordinate system was calculated based on the distance constraint method; Finally, the least squares iteration based on Rodrigue matrix was adopted to coordinate transformation. The experimental results show that this method is simple and can avoid the influence of fitting error and improve the precision of coordinate transformation.