Concurrent Technologies Corp. of Johnstown Contracted by Air Force to Design Robotic Laser System to Take Paint Off Jet Fighters

Concurrent Technologies Corp. of Johnstown announced that it has been contracted by the U.S. Air Force to design and build an environmentally friendly robotic laser system to remove paint from U.S. Air Force aircraft, a process currently done during maintenance procedures with abrasives or chemicals. Both processes result in large amounts of solid waste, hazardous waste, and air emissions.

In an effort to reduce the environmental impact of conventional depainting operations and to increase aircraft availability, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) hired CTC to design, demonstrate, and validate a robotic laser coating removal system capable of removing coatings from the aircraft.

The robotics being used for this five-year project are scalable for use on aircraft from fighter size, to the larger cargo and tanker aircraft, CTC said in making the announcement.

“This project will utilize the most recent advancements in laser technology, process control, and robotic manipulation to provide a state of the art coating removal system,” said Mr. Edward J. Sheehan, Jr., CTC’s President & Chief Executive Officer. “It will provide innovation to not only the U.S. Air Force but to the entire Department of Defense (DoD) through the development and implementation of an environmentally friendly paint stripping system that can be utilized on a variety of aircraft. We are pleased to be able to expedite the transition of this innovative technology by conducting this testing in our Johnstown, PA facility.”

The system will consist of a commercially available laser source, scanner, and particle capture system that will be mounted to and integrated with a mobile robotic base and surface monitoring sensors. Activities in progress include performance testing at CTC on the laser source and a design of an autonomous robot base by Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC).

The benefits of this new system include the reduction of plastic media, paint stripping chemicals, hazardous waste, air emissions, spent personal protective equipment, masking materials, and maintenance costs that are associated with aircraft depainting.

Concurrent Technologies Corp. (CTC) is an independent, nonprofit, applied scientific research and development professional services organization providing innovative management and technology-based solutions to government and industry.

As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, CTC's primary purpose and programs are to undertake applied scientific research and development activities that serve the public interest. For more information, visit www.ctc.com.