Automated Visual Inspection Sentencing and Dressing (AVID)

Within the aerospace sector, aftermarket services account for over 50% of revenue generated by aero engine manufacturers (Rolls-Royce Annual Report, dated March 2013). Central to this is the ability to inspect and repair high unit cost components. Many processes are manual but given the ever-increasing quality, cost and delivery requirements and the safety critical nature of these rotating parts, there is a strong drive towards process automation. The objective of this project is therefore to develop and demonstrate the automation of inspection, sentencing and removal of defects present on service-run components such as gas turbine discs and shafts. The automation of each aspect of the process will need to be capable of being applied to complex geometries and accommodate component and feature variation resulting from service operation. As this capability does not exist, a project consortium has been assembled to address this issue over a period of three years, at a cost of £1.7M. The final deliverable of this project will be a full demonstration of the technology developed on a representative component.