Multi-position control of movements of large-sized structural elements during static loading using a laser tracker

One of the most important tasks in the manufacturing of aerospace products is the control of their geometric parameters at various stages of production and assessment of their compliance with the requirements of design documentation. The use of laser automated measuring systems makes it possible to increase the measurement speed and to use the product digital model as a reference point.  The best results in solving such problems can be obtained using laser automated measuring systems, such as laser scanners and laser trackers. In this paper a two-position measurement system is applied to control the aluminum alloy fuel component tank of the designed launch vehicle with two modes of static loading, corresponding to different transportation conditions. In this case, the linear dimension error should not exceed 150 µm. A mathematical model of a multi-position measuring system is constructed and measurement uncertainty equations are obtained. In this case, the error function value that represents the difference between the errors in determining the coordinates of the reference points and the controlled points of the measurement object should be minimal. This mathematical model will be further used for numerical modeling that will allow selecting the optimal configuration of a measuring system for multi-position control of the tank geometric parameters in the static loading process.