Laser Coating Removal Robot (LCR robot)
Established in 1963, the R&D 100 Awards is the only S&T (science and technology) awards competition that recognizes new commercial products, technologies, and materials for their technological significance that are available for sale or license. The R&D 100 Awards, celebrating the program's 60th Anniversary this year, has long been a benchmark of excellence for industry sectors as diverse as telecommunications, high-energy physics, software, manufacturing, and biotechnology. This 2022 R&D 100 winner is listed below, along with its respective category.
Category: Mechanical/Materials
Developers: Southwest Research Institute
Co-Developers: XYREC
United States
Product Description:The Laser Coating Removal Robot (LCR robot), developed by Southwest Research Institute, is the only known solution for commercial and cargo-sized robotic coating removal in the world that is capable of removing the full range of aircraft coatings (all colors and clearcoat). There are no other comparable laser coating removal solutions. The LCR uses the largest specialized CO2 commercially available laser on the largest mobile manipulator. It includes intelligent process monitoring and control to very precisely control the coating removal process (remove topcoat only or remove coatings all the way down to the substrate). The product integrates this high-power laser system into a large 8-DOF robot based on a 3 DOF-AGV platform with 3D auto orientation capabilities while it is operating autonomously. The product is unique in industry (nothing like it to reach the full range of an aircraft), faster (a key business value), supports a drastic reduction in the CO2 footprint, and stops the unhealthy work of the traditional depaint processes.
Developers: Southwest Research Institute
Co-Developers: XYREC
United States
Product Description:The Laser Coating Removal Robot (LCR robot), developed by Southwest Research Institute, is the only known solution for commercial and cargo-sized robotic coating removal in the world that is capable of removing the full range of aircraft coatings (all colors and clearcoat). There are no other comparable laser coating removal solutions. The LCR uses the largest specialized CO2 commercially available laser on the largest mobile manipulator. It includes intelligent process monitoring and control to very precisely control the coating removal process (remove topcoat only or remove coatings all the way down to the substrate). The product integrates this high-power laser system into a large 8-DOF robot based on a 3 DOF-AGV platform with 3D auto orientation capabilities while it is operating autonomously. The product is unique in industry (nothing like it to reach the full range of an aircraft), faster (a key business value), supports a drastic reduction in the CO2 footprint, and stops the unhealthy work of the traditional depaint processes.
LCR Product Picture 1