Robotics company helped build first collaborative mobile robot for U.S. Air Force maintenance depots

Aerobotix, a leading robotics integrator for the aerospace and defense industries, announced today that it will demonstrate a new mobile robot at the WESTEC/AeroDef Manufacturing Conference in Long Beach, California, from Nov. 7-9.

These will be the first public demonstrations of the robot, which has been specifically designed for the aerospace and defense sector. It can be configured for applications including sanding, painting and inspection. The demonstration robot will perform automated tasks on aerospace components.

"As Aerobotix continues its groundbreaking work in mobile robots, we're excited to bring this new technology to WESTEC/AeroDef," said Josh Tuttle, Aerobotix business development manager. "Mobile robots are widely used in general manufacturing and warehousing but are still new to the aerospace and defense industries. They support the ‘factory of the future' concept and offer significant benefits in labor and cost savings, output quality and worker safety."

Aerobotix has been a pioneer in the use of mobile robots for aerospace and defense applications, partnering with Compass Technology Group (CTG) to help build the first collaborative mobile robot for U.S. Air Force maintenance depots.

Developed under the Air Force's Small Business Innovation Research program, the self-navigating Adaptive Radome Diagnostic System (ARDS) uses microwave signals to non-destructively evaluate aircraft radomes and identify defects such as delamination or water ingress. The ARDS won the top Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award at the 2021 Defense Manufacturing Conference.

"The new mobile robot we're demonstrating at WESTEC/AeroDef isn't self-navigating like the ARDS but could be reconfigured to become self-navigating if the customer has that need," said Tuttle. "A key strength of mobile robots is that they're highly configurable and can be rapidly repurposed to serve multiple objectives in multiple locations."

Aerobotix will offer hourly demonstrations at WESTEC/AeroDef booth No. 3003, on the right-hand side of the AeroDef hall.

About Aerobotix

Headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, Aerobotix is an innovative leader in robotic solutions for the aerospace and defense industries. The company specializes in the creation of cutting-edge automated robotic solutions for high-value, high-precision components, aircraft and vehicles. Aerobotix has more than 130 robotic systems installed in the U.S. and abroad, providing exceptional results and savings for our clients.