Automatic painting and paint removal system: A preliminary design for aircraft applications

The maintenance of the aircraft finish system is executed completely manually at present, involving a big amount of manual labor for a long time and in a hazardous environment. The automation of the process would be able to dramatically speed it up and to decrease manpower involved. Moreover, costs and environmental risks are expected to reduce with the automation. Several solutions are being developed; nevertheless, a system able to achieve the maintenance process automatically is not yet available. Along this thesis, a preliminary design of an automatic system for aircraft painting and paint removal has been carried out. The work points out that a cost effective solution for this complex problem is possible. As a preliminary study, this is intended to be a starting point for further study on this subject.