The Boeing Company

Thor Tech, Inc.

Theboeing Company

Bradley James Mitchell

Trevor Milton Laib

Kevin Scott Callahan

Damien O Martin

Nick Shabdeh Evans

Eerik J Helmick

Lars Eric Blacken

Grace L Duncan

Bret L Lamoree

Ty Aaby Larsen

Donald B Lee

Mark Edward Wentland

Henry VanRensselaer Fletcher, Iii

Keith M Cutler

Samuel J Feist

Aphea Ann Thornton

Bryan M Fox

William C Sanford

James Jack Owen Devine

Bryan Thompson

Brock J Prince

Raymond McKay Featherstone

Daniel J Diessner

James T Henley

Robert Owen Sanford

Jeffrey A McCaskey

Dana Kim Gehman

Dale Beever

Brian Jay Tillotson

James P Schalla

Charles Briggs Spinelli

Stephen G Dame

Kevin Yong Ung

Robert Thomas Johnson

David Allan Followell

Tamaira Emily Ross

Jeanne C Maggiore

Kevin L Swearingen

Steven Craig Venema

David B Blackwell

Daniel A Hendricks

James T Farricker

Henry V R Fletcher, Iii

Henry V Fletcher, Iii

Edwin C Lim

Peter E Herley

Brenda K Carlson

Richard R Rocks

Heiko Hoffmann

Gary Alan Ray

Nick Shadbeh Evans

George Michael Roe

Domenic S Giuntoli

Matthew C Malkin

Calsee Nicole Robb

Mark Blumenkrantz

Nino Senoadi

Joseph A Marshall, Iv

Emma Romig

Bentley Edwin Northon

Robert J Bengtsson

Bethany L Franko

Gregory W Nelson

Jeffrey L Aimar

Dane Joe Grgas

James A Poier

Daniel J Howard

Darrel E Santala

Sean A Munson

Frederick Theodore Calkins

John Richard Porter

Shawn A Claflin

Jeffrey Lynn Duce

Joseph A Marshall

Bryce Avery Vandyke

Robert Steven Wright

James A Fullerton

David W Kirkbride

David Scott Wright

Raymond Roeder

Kirby Joe Keller

Sudhakar S Shetty

David T Kirkland

Douglas S York

Gerardo Pena

Paul Murray

Kenneth Patrick Kirchoff

Thamir R Al-Alusi

Phillip J Bobzien

James E Ebner

Sridhar K Iya

Ethan Carl Owyang

Scott Edward Marston

James Ridgeway Gillis

Alexey Meerov

Michael D Sudolsky

Larry R Schultz

Andrew David Clark

Randall Vincent Fraker

Kathryn A Masiello

Methods and apparatus for automated routing of wires of a wire harness on a form board. A wire harness comprising a wire end connector and a multiplicity of groups of wires is supported and carried by a carrier end effector mounted to an end of a first robotic arm. The wire groups are accessed and then routed on the form board by a routing end effector mounted to an end of a second robotic arm. Initially a wire gripper of the routing end effector is opened. The second robotic arm is then controlled to move the routing end effector so that respective first portions of all wire groups are accessible for gripping by the wire gripper. Then the wire gripper is closed to grip the first portions of wires. Then the second robotic arm is controlled to move the routing end effector to place second portions of the wires of all wire groups in a first elastic retainer wire routing device attached to the form board. Thereafter, the routing end effector routes the first group of wires through a second elastic retainer wire routing device and then routes the second group of wires through a third elastic retainer wire routing device.

Methods and apparatus for routing wires of pre-assembled wire harness on form board

A method, system and computer program product are provided for determining wire contact insertion based on image analysis. Methods include: acquiring at least one image of a connector having a plurality of wire contact insertion holes; identifying a wire contact within a wire contact insertion hole of the plurality of wire contact insertion holes; determining that the wire contact insertion hole is a correct wire contact insertion hole; determining that the wire contact has been fully inserted into the correct wire contact insertion hole; and providing feedback indicating that the wire contact is fully inserted into the correct wire contact insertion hole. The feedback includes in some cases a first indicator indicating that the wire contact is in the correct wire contact insertion hole and a second indicator indicating that the wire contact is fully inserted into the correct wire contact insertion hole.

Method and system for machine determining wire contact insertion

A system includes one or more distribution nozzles associated with a seat within an internal space, and a return air grill associated with the seat. Airflow is directed from the one or more distribution nozzles toward and into the return air grill. A method includes associating one or more distribution nozzles with a seat within an internal space, associating a return air grill with the seat, and directing airflow from the one or more distribution nozzles toward and into the return air grill.

Ventilation systems and methods for internal cabins of vehicles

A method, system and computer program product are provided for automated insertion of a wire contact into an insertion hole of a connector. Methods include: controlling a robot having an end-effector to position a wire contact proximate to a connector using a wire gripper and a separator device of the end-effector; controlling the robot to advance the separator device between two or more wires previously connected to the connector; controlling the robot to align the wire contact with a insertion hole of the connector; controlling the robot to advance the wire contact toward the insertion hole of the connector and at least partially insert the wire contact into the insertion hole; controlling the robot to release the wire contact from the wire gripper; and controlling the robot to withdraw the wire gripper and the separator device from between the two or more wires previously connected to the connector.

Method, system, and computer program product for wire connector assembly

Systems and methods for automated wire pickup using image-based robot guidance. The machine vision-based system includes: a robot arm; a tool head coupled to the distal end of the robot arm and including a wire gripper motor; a wire gripper movably coupled to the tool head and operatively coupled to the wire gripper motor; a wire holder configured for clamping a wire; cameras mounted to the distal end of the robot arm and having first and second fields of view which intersect in a volume of space that includes the tip of the wire gripper and the wire holder; and a computer system configured to control operation of the robot arm motors and wire gripper motor. More specifically, the computer system is configured for visually estimating the position and orientation of a contact-equipped wire being held by the wire holder and then generating robot guidance to enable automated pickup of the end section of the wire by the wire gripper.

Image-based guidance for robotic wire pickup

Thermal control system for aircraft main landing gear wheel wells and related methods are disclosed. An example thermal control system includes a conduit defining a fluid passageway between an inlet and an outlet. The inlet of the conduit positioned in fluid communication with a landing gear wheel well and the outlet of the conduit positioned in fluid communication with the atmosphere. The conduit generates a pressure differential through the fluid passageway between the inlet and the outlet to exhaust heat from the landing gear wheel well to the atmosphere.

Thermal control systems for aircraft landing gear wheel wells and related methods

Systems and methods for designing and assembling form boards with attached wire routing devices for use in wire bundle assembly. The assembly method comprises: (a) establishing a coordinate system of a form board having a multiplicity of holes; (b) using a computer system to determine locations of form board devices of different types with reference to the coordinate system of the form board based on engineering data specifying a wire bundle configuration; and (c) fastening the form board devices of different types to respective holes of the form board having centers closest to respective locations determined in step (b). The form board devices may be inserted robotically or manually.

Form board preparation for wire bundling

Travel trailer

An automated wire insertion machine for inserting wires into grommet cavity locations of an electrical connector includes a controllable wire insertion robot and a processor to generate pre-generated plug maps based upon an original plug map of the grommet cavity locations and to control the wire insertion robot based upon one pre-generated plug map to insert the wires into the grommet cavity locations. The pre-generated plug maps are generated by defining a range of potential error of the grommet cavity locations that includes at least one of a potential rotational error and a potential translational error, defining an acceptable tolerance of the grommet cavity locations that includes at least one of an acceptable rotational tolerance and an acceptable translational tolerance, and calculating offset values of the grommet cavity locations based on the range of potential error and the acceptable tolerance, thereby generating the plurality of pre-generated plug maps.

Automated machine for inserting wires into grommet cavity locations of an electrical connector and methods of operating

A method utilizes a funnel system and robotic end effector grippers to feed an unjacketed portion of a shielded cable through a sleeve. The funnel is designed with one or more thin extensions (hereinafter 'prongs') on which a sleeve is placed prior to a cable entering the funnel. Preferably two or more prongs are employed, although a single prong may be used if properly configured to both guide a cable and fit between the sleeve and cable. The prongs close off the uneven surface internal to a sleeve and provide a smooth surface for the cable to slide along and through the sleeve, preventing any damage to the exposed shielding. The sleeve is picked up and held on the prongs using a robotic end effector. If the sleeve is a solder sleeve, the robotic end effector has grippers designed to make contact with the portions of the solder sleeve that are between the insulating rings and the central solder ring.

Automated methods and apparatus for installing a sleeve on a cable

Methods and apparatus for temporarily holding one end of a wire on a harness form board during automated transfer from one robot to another robot. The apparatus includes a wire holding device which is designed to facilitate the transfer of a wire end from a first end effector of a first robot to a second end effector of a second robot. The wire holding devices have different structures, but share the common feature that opening of the wire holding device (to enable wire insertion) involves applying a contact force which overcomes a spring force that urges the wire holding device to be closed. The end effectors are designed and their movements are controlled in a manner such that the moving end effector applies the contact force necessary to overcome the closure-inducing spring force being exerted.

Temporary holder for transferring end of wire between end effectors

A wire guide and a laser wire-processing device that includes a wire guide are provided. The laser wire-processing device includes a housing and an aperture in a side of the housing, wherein the aperture defines a longitudinal axis that is substantially perpendicular to the aperture. The laser wire-processing device also includes a backstop arranged in the housing and aligned with the longitudinal axis, the backstop defining a wire-contact surface in a facing relationship with the aperture. The laser wire-processing device also includes a wire guide arranged in the housing to manipulate a wire inserted through the aperture into a desired position relative to the longitudinal axis between the aperture and the backstop. The laser wire-processing device also includes a laser operable to direct a laser beam toward an insulation layer of the wire. The wire guide could be a tube arranged in the device or a backstop guide.

Laser wire processing device

Apparatus for robot motion control and wire dispensing during automated routing of wires onto harness form boards. The robot includes a manipulator arm and a wire-routing end effector mounted to a distal end of the manipulator arm. The wire-routing end effector is configured for dispensing and routing a wire along a path through form board devices mounted to a harness form board. The wire-routing end effector is moved along a planned path under the control of a robot controller. An end effector path is provided with a set of processes that enable rapid, even fully automatic, development of robot motion controls for routing wires on harness form boards. The system uses a measurement encoder on the end effector that is routing individual wires on a wire harness form board to learn the length of each wire and its length variation.

Apparatus for robotically routing wires on a harness form board

Growing community of inventors

Snohomish, WA, United States of America

Bradley James Mitchell