Method for pointing a plurality of predetermined locations inside a structure and corresponding pointing system
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorsYann-Henri Laudrain, Marc Lelay
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of the disclosure include methods in which locations within an aircraft fuselage are automatically pointed to and marked so that a part may be fastened at each marked location. A mobile assembly includes a video camera that may capture images of the aircraft fuselage. A plurality of predetermined locations may be visualized and verified by a successive implementation of a first image recognition process and a second image recognition process. The mobile assembly may then automatically point to the predetermined locations after each has been identified and mark each predetermined location.
Claims15
A method for pointing a plurality of predetermined locations inside an aircraft fuselage portion of a primary structure, the method comprising:
- retrieving a plurality of previously determined positions stored in a memory associated with a mobile assembly that includes a video camera, wherein the mobile assembly is to move to the previously determined positions to visualize predetermined locations in the aircraft fuselage portion that are associated with the previously determined positions;
- capturing a plurality of images of the aircraft fuselage portion by the video camera, wherein the plurality of captured images depicts each of the previously determined positions;
- performing a first image recognition process to identify when the mobile assembly has moved to each of the previously determined positions, and performing a second image recognition process to point to and identify the predetermined locations associated with the previously determined positions, wherein the first and second image recognition processes are performed by comparing the plurality of captured images to a plurality of reference images associated with known ones of the previously determined positions in the memory;
- automatically moving the mobile assembly from a first previously determined position to a second previously determined position based on the performance of the first image recognition process;
- and
- automatically pointing to each predetermined location when the mobile assembly has arrived at each corresponding previously determined position, to thereby mark each predetermined location in the aircraft fuselage portion, based on the performance of the second image recognition process.
A system for automatically pointing a plurality of predetermined locations inside an aircraft fuselage portion of a primary structure, the system comprising:
- a mobile assembly;
- a video camera included in the mobile assembly and configured to capture a plurality of images of the aircraft fuselage portion, wherein the plurality of images depicts a plurality of previously determined positions;
- a mobile assembly controller configured to retrieve the plurality of previously determined positions stored in a memory associated with the mobile assembly, and automatically move the mobile assembly from a first previously determined position to a second previously determined position, based on performance of a first image recognition process that identifies when the mobile assembly has moved to each of the previously determined positions;
- a pointing controller configured to automatically point to each predetermined location when the mobile assembly has arrived at each corresponding previously determined position, to thereby mark each predetermined location in the aircraft fuselage portion, based on performance of a second image recognition process that identifies the predetermined locations associated with the previously determined positions;
- and
- a comparing module configured to compare the plurality of captured images to a plurality of reference images stored in a memory associated with the mobile assembly, the plurality of reference images being associated with known ones of the previously determined positions, to thereby perform the first and second image recognition processes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.