Photos: (Below) Phantom Ray was developed to further advance unmanned aircraft systems technology. Boeing (Right) Brian Carbrey, Immersive Development technical lead, uses a variety of digital resources to innovate and solve problems. Bob ferguson | boeing programs that extend well beyond its staple defense projects and exploit the “One Boeing” concept. Two years ago, Phantom Works and Boeing Commercial Airplanes learned that each was working on ways to eliminate assembly drilling and shims, or gap-fillers, used in jetliner assembly. “Once we both realized we were working on the same thing, it became a synchronizing act,” said Fred Swanstrom, manufacturing engineer for Advanced Developmental Composites, from his Seattle-based office. The breakthrough solutions will be used in production of the 737 MAX and 777X, as well as for future defense aircraft, creating wide-ranging benefits. The aim was to lower manufacturing costs, and this was a step toward that end. The magic of this Boeing collaboration? Separate entities with markedly different methods came together on their own and found middle ground in making significant advances, with the possibility of much more to come. “We took a conservative approach; the approach they took was not,” Swanstrom pointed out. “We are now melding the two together in a one-company approach. Phantom Works revealed what is possible. We’ve just scratched the surface of what we can do.” The Immersive Development Center in St. Louis was responsible for a similar collaboration with Commercial Airplanes. The 737 team approached Phantom Works with a production issue. Everyone linked up in the Immersive Development Center through a remote connection, using a bank of overhead cameras and virtual technology featuring a digital human. Phantom Works presented three scenarios over two hours, and one was successfully tested. Previously, this sort of problem-solving would have taken two weeks to complete. In California, Phantom Works is working on Talon HATE, a communications system that can link various platforms during combat missions. Phantom Works shares in this project with six other Boeing divisions—almost everyone except Commercial Airplanes. “We’re using the best of Boeing, and we’re doing more of that now than ever before,” said Geoff Orias, chief engineer for Advanced Network & Space Systems in Huntington Beach. “Before, it was stove-piped and people did their own thing. With less defense funding, you have to overcome that challenge. You have to work together. You can’t afford to just work on your 26 Boein g Frontie rs
Frontiers September 2015 Issue
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