WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) – The Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, teamed with the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing, or ARM, Institute to win the Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award at the 2022 Defense Manufacturing Conference for the creation of an augmented reality-enabled cold spray robot, nicknamed “ARRI.”
The new system, used to apply thermal coatings to refurbish worn aerospace parts, requires a human user to look through an augmented reality-enabled Microsoft Hololens and indicate via intuitive hand gestures where a coating should be applied to a workpiece. The system will deliver significant cost savings to the Air Force, improve weapon system readiness, decrease maintenance downtime, and improve material application accuracy.