Quasi-virtual locate/drill/shim process

A system for determining characteristics of a shim fittable between first and second bodies, comprising a computer system programmed to execute the following operations:

• (a) processing point cloud scan data, measured hole vector data and other discrete feature data for the first body to derive first deviation values representing the deviation of the surface of the first body from a nominal surface of the first body for a first grid of points;
• (b) processing point cloud scan data, measured hole vector data and other discrete feature data for the second body to derive second deviation values representing the deviation of the surface of the second body from a nominal surface of the second body for a second grid of points that matches said first grid of points;
• (c) correlating the first deviation values with the second deviation values based on a best fit position of the first body relative to the second body;
• (d) computing shim gap values for said grid of points based on said correlated first and second deviation values;
• and
• (e) using said shim gap values to develop a shim model.

A method for determining characteristics of a shim that conforms to surfaces of first and second bodies, comprising:

• attaching a drill jig having a plurality of drill bushings to the first body;
• locating the drill bushings in accordance with the measurements of wing features;
• drilling holes in the first body at the locations of the drill bushings;
• removing the drill jig from the first body;
• placing optical targets in the drilled holes in the first body;
• scanning the surface of the first body using a three-dimensional scanner to acquire point cloud scan data, measured hole vector data and other discrete feature data for the first body;
• placing optical targets in the holes in the second body;
• scanning the surface of the second body using a three-dimensional scanner to acquire point cloud scan data, measured hole vector data and other discrete feature data for the second body;
• processing the point cloud scan data, measured hole vector data and other discrete feature data for the first and second bodies to derive shim gap values;
• and
• using said shim gap values to develop a shim model.