Quality inspection of critical aircraft engine components: towards full automation

The quality of products has become a key factor for success in the current manufacturing industry. This is especially true in the aviation field where components for aircraft engines called honeycombs are produced. Due to their small dimension and peculiar shape, such components typically undergo a severe and cumbersome visual inspection by specialized operators. However, this process is highly prone to human error, requires a lot of time and a high number of undetected defects have been reported. In order to reduce the whole inspection time, ensure higher quality and guarantee standardization and process control, this paper presents an innovative strategy for the fullyautomated inspection of honeycomb engine parts. The proposed solution is a two-phase process fully controlled by a robot, leveraging a camera as well as a purposely designed optic fibers sensor, coupled with Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms for the detection of different types of defects. To assess the functionality and validity of the proposed solution, a fully functioning prototype is described and characterized.