Wilder Systems has begun developing an adaptive drilling capability which uses servo motor torque and current feedback during drilling to detect the material being drilled, in real time, and change drilling feeds and speeds on the fly. We assess this adaptive drilling capability at a TRL-5 level. In the proposed work, Wilder Systems will build, program, and validate a full-scale robotic mixed stack drilling system targeting Carbon Fiber / Aluminum and CFRP/Titanium stacks identified in discussions with two major helicopter OEMs as most likely to be present in FVL.
