Project OPTIMUS

Start date: 2021

End date: 2023

Participants: Leader: Airbus Operations SL; Consortium members: Applus+ Laboratories (LGAI Technological Center SA), Frimal Trading SL, Inventia Kinetics SL, Metromecanica SL, Obuu Tech SL and Utingal SL.

Funding: This project is funded by the CDTI and supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Context:

Born out of a mission to propel the Spanish industry into the industrial revolution of the 21st century, Project OPTIMUS sets out to develop disruptive technologies oriented to the industry’s transformation and digitalization. These technologies will generate greater competitiveness, greater resource efficiency and will be supported by digital transformation and connectivity.
 

Objectives:

Project OPTIMUS has the following general objectives:

1. Research advanced and flexible manufacturing processes with new materials which are more efficient in terms of energy consumption and manufacturing speed for aeronautical parts.
    
2. Develop new digital simulation systems for advanced automated manufacturing technologies applicable to different aeronautical parts.
    
3. Robotization and simulation of the handling of carbon fiber aeronautical parts in their different stages.
    
4. Research into automated inspection systems.
    
5. Research into advanced uncured carbon fiber recycling technologies.
    

Methodology:

For Applus+ Laboratories, it is essential to develop proprietary technology that allow us to differentiate ourselves in our fields of work from potential competitors. For this reason, we are embarking on the OPTIMUS project with the objective of researching new manufacturing principles, developing materials and innovative technologies for production processes applicable to the aeronautical industry in the coming years — processes that will make it possible to manufacture large composite structures for the next generation of commercial aircraft. These developments should make possible a more eco-efficient, competitive, reliable and resistant aircraft, while at the same time facilitating its serial production — even for aircraft which demand the very highest production speeds.  

Our specific objectives are the following:

• Further investigate the flexible, continuous and industrially efficient process of forming omega stringers (directly into curing shells).
   
• Develop the concept of heating blankets made of hybrid textile-silicone materials in order to form the composite parts. Different heating blanket solutions will be investigated incorporating new developments recently available on the market with the aim of creating a product that is both more robust and more adaptable and allows better quality to be achieved.
   
• Develop an automated A+ Glide Forming demonstrator machine, which would allow the manufacture of any type of omega stringer in the scope of the project, as well as other types of geometries with little or no change in the machine’s hardware.

For more information on the project, see: https://research.airbus.com/es/optimus