Smart Automation EMMA

Coatings/Corrosion Prevention

Problem: Automating surface prep on DoD assets like ships and aircraft requires the inclusion of real-time decision making: the ability to adjust processes on the fly. The abrasion process is highly variable, with different geometries and materials, micro and macro movements of the surface, and how the scope of work changes as coating thickness differences and substrate condition are discovered during abrasion. A successful approach must work harmoniously with this variability and must fit into the operation seamlessly such that other operations (masking, inspection) can happen simultaneously to maintain the appropriate level of organizational engagement.

Description: TAI’s EMMA is the only automated system that allows for real-time decision making and has sanded 25 widebody commercial aircraft. EMMA is a turnkey solution that is instantly deployable and safe around humans, allowing for personnel to monitor and adjust the process in real time, while also performing parallel tasks like masking and inspection.

EMMA continuously monitors the surface and its surroundings to safely operate alongside humans and on the assets being sanded. EMMA relays information to the painter through the Operator Tablet to improve their decision making and incorporates their inputs to adjust the sanding in real time. EMMA requires no scanning, programming, part fixturing or models, responding instead directly to actual conditions in real time.

Benefits to the DoD: In commercial and military use, EMMA systems have:

• Reduced sanding time by 63%, headcount by 25%, and labor time billed to sanding by 73%
• Dramatically improved final paint finish quality
• Eliminated all sanding injuries
• Eliminated schedule volatility
• Reduced rework by 80%
• Increased facility capacity by 250%

By using a reactive control system and human-in-the-loop decision making, eliminating reliance on models and programming, EMMA:

• is usable by new painters with only (1) hour of training
• performs any sanding operation on any surface
• does not need part fixturing or locking
• is instantly deployable, no changes to facility or current process flow
• has no downtime when process or workpieces change

Challenges: EMMA is on a path of ever-increasing autonomous decision making. The current challenge is improving EMMA’s ML to the point that she correctly decides when an area is properly abraded and chooses to move to a new area. To further increase the autonomous decision making, the data already being collected needs 6 months to be processed and trained on to achieve a sufficient performance level to be deployed.

Technical Maturity: EMMA is at a TRL of 9, operating commercially since 2023, certified for C1D1 environments and passing an ISO 13849 risk assessment, and has sanded dozens of productions 787s across all shifts at Boeing with no downtime for maintenance.