The Department of Defense, specifically the United States Air Force, is seeking innovative solutions for the F-35 Scuff Sanding Test and Demonstration under the SBIR Phase II program. The objective is to automate the scuff sanding process for F-35 aircraft coatings, leveraging robotic systems to enhance efficiency and reduce labor intensity, thereby minimizing injuries and improving uniformity in sanding operations. This initiative is crucial for maintaining the F-35 fleet, as it aims to streamline the refresh coating process and optimize the use of technician labor. Interested parties should note that the solicitation is set to open on May 28, 2025, with applications due by June 25, 2025, and can find more information at the provided source link: https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/.

## Description

Strip and recoat programs are time and labor intensive, with little margin for error. Several programs, including F-35, have installed robotic coating systems to streamline the coating process. This program would like to further leverage the robotic capitol investment to auto-sand the coatings using real-time thickness feedback, as well as automatically scuff-sand for recoating. Autosanding would reduce sanding span time, while allowing technician labor to be re-tasked to other processes. By automating it we expect to reduce this time by at least half. Currently, sanding is an incredibly labor intensive repetitive process. Due to the laborious nature of the job, programs have seen a high employee turnover and lack of uniformity of human performed sanding. Depots and production have seen a dramatic increase of injuries to their workforce because of the prolonged and repetitive nature of the materials being sanded.

## Objective

Robotic scuff sand JSF(F-35) for refresh coating

## Phase I

SBIR contract FA8650-08-C-5307 for AF071-112 topic is very similar to what is required for this project. The test and demonstration need to find the pressure, feeds and speeds for robotic scuff sanding of F-35 top coatings. The contractor would also need to demonstrate the capability to do finite sanding in hard-to-reach areas with complicated geometries.

## Phase II

This project would use past development to develop the applied pressure, feeds and speed for the scuff sanding operation. It would also optimize the size of the sanding head and the amount of heads required to make this operation optimal for use. A prototype system would need to be delivered to show the capability of reach and sanding all oml areas of the JSF aircraft. 

## Phase III: Dual Use Applications

If successful it is expected that phase 3 would be to use currently programmed activation dollars to procure multiple robotic sanding and coating booths for the F-35 scuff and refresh program. At phase 3 it expected to be TRL 8 proven for F-35(JSF) with proven production operating parameters.

Topic

Agency

Program

Topic Link

Additional Information