Testia is excited to announce a milestone, which firmly establishes its position at the forefront of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technology development: The successful delivery and handover of a robotized ultrasonic development and inspection system to the Airbus R&D laboratory in September.
This project marks a significant achievement for Testia: it represents the first fully automated Ultrasonic inspection system the company has designed and built under the Airbus Extended Make initiative.
Versatility and high-precision
The system is a versatile, high-precision laboratory asset capable of handling a wide range of critical inspection tasks, including complex materials:
- Metal parts: It is designed to identify pores and cracks within weld lines, as well as cracks in the bulk material.
- Composite parts: The system can detect delamination and core defects in both monolithic and sandwich composite structures.
The system offers practical flexibility by integrating multiple ultrasonic techniques. These include traditional inspections such as in-contact using a waterbox and membrane end-effector, as well as full immersion testing in a water tank (with a fork or a single head). Crucially, it also incorporates the capability for contactless inspection using a laser-excited acoustics system.
Flexible and simplified path planning
The physical design of the robotized solution is robust and optimized for lab testing. Its core features include a water tank measuring 1.4m x 3m x 1.5m (W x L x D), equipped with a lift for part immersion and a turntable for precise inspection of cylindrical parts. A key component is the collaborative robot arm, which is mounted on a mobile base and can be fixed to one of three positions around the tank to ensure optimal reachability.
Innovation extends to the way inspections are planned and executed. The system includes a handheld 3D Scanner to generate accurate models of parts, which are then used for offline robot path planning for raster paths on complex parts. For simpler shapes, like flat and simple curved parts, an online programming software for the cobot, specific for Ultrasonic testing is included.
The system is also designed for maximum adaptability through its specialized end effectors, including those for single-side inspection, local immersion and through-transmission. It is compatible with a range of standard UT devices, such as Smart UE1 & Smart U32 . The successful handover of the system marks a proud moment for Testia, reaffirming our capability to deliver complex, high-technology solutions that meet the demanding requirements of global aerospace leaders like Airbus. This powerful robotized solution is set to accelerate the development of future NDT standards, ensuring the highest levels of safety and quality in aerospace manufacturing and beyond for years to come.
If you are interested to see the robotized ultrasonic cobot inspection system in action, check it out here on YouTube.