Patent Publication Number: US-11036201-B2

Title: System and method for automation of sensing and machine actuation in a manufacturing environment

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION DATA 
     The present application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/275,864, entitled System and Method for Automated Aperture Alignment in Response to Detecting an Objection filed Feb. 14, 2019 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/275,884, entitled System and Method for Self Contained Through Sensor for Determining an Actuation Position for a Machine filed Feb. 14, 2019. 
     BACKGROUND 
     As manufacturing environments become more automated and complex, robotics and other automated machinery is becoming more and more prevalent in all phases of manufacturing. Very specific tasks that are conventionally performed by a skilled artisan may be performed using highly specialized robotics having highly specialized tools and/or end effectors. For example, drilling holes in composite sections of a contoured section of an airplane wing or car body may require a high level of precision with respect to applying torque to a motor for moving the end effector around a contoured wing surface such that a drill hole is drilled precisely over a receiving hole of an underlying structure. 
     In conventional manufacturing environments, a worker may have used a conventional through-skin sensor to detect an underlying target or hole (wherein a “skin” may refer to a surface structure or body panel of a car body or airplane body). As such, the worker may manually maneuver a hand-held through-skin sensor until the sensor determines that the underlying target or hole is aligned with a drill aperture. Then, a second worker (or in some cases, the same worker accomplishes a new task) may place a drill bit on the identified target or hole location to drill a hole through the skin at the identified location. This is inefficient as one or two workers are needed to manipulate two different devices and the process is tedious as the first worker needs to manually maneuver the aperture of the through-skin sensor until aligned and then hold in place while the second worker completes a drilling procedure (or first worker who holds the sensor in place while drilling). This tedious, work-intensive, inefficient process is in need of a novel and modern overhaul. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Aspects and many of the attendant advantages of the claims will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  shows an isometric view of a hand-held through-skin sensor having automated aperture-locating mechanism according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein; 
         FIG. 2A-D  show different configurations of a sensor array that may be disposed in the hand-held through-skin sensor of  FIG. 1  according to embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein; 
         FIG. 3  shows a rear view of the HHTS sensor  100  of  FIG. 1  showing a surface engagement mechanism according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein; 
         FIG. 4  shows the hand-held through-skin sensor of  FIG. 1  in conjunction with a drilling system engaged with a surface according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein; 
         FIG. 5  shows a block diagram of an overall control system set in a manufacturing environment that includes hand-held through-skin sensor of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein; and 
         FIG. 6  shows a flow diagram of a method for using the hand-held through-skin sensor in a manufacturing environment of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the subject matter disclosed herein. The general principles described herein may be applied to embodiments and applications other than those detailed above without departing from the spirit and scope of the present detailed description. The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed or suggested herein. 
     The subject matter disclosed herein is directed to a system (and method for use thereof) of a hand-held through-skin (HHTS) sensor (or automated machine-mounted in some embodiments) that can determine the location of an underlying aperture in a support structure suited to mount a skin of surface. In an embodiment, the HHTS sensor includes a sensor disposed in a housing and configured to determine a location of an aperture disposed in an adjacent surface through electromagnetic, x-ray, ultrasonic or other means. The HHTS sensor further includes an alignment assembly having an alignment orifice disposed in the housing and configured to be maneuvered in an x-y plane within the housing. The alignment assembly includes a first actuator configured to move the alignment orifice in the x-direction in the x-y plane and a second actuator configured to move the alignment orifice in the y-direction in the x-y plane. To control the automated aspects of aperture detection and co-location, the HHTS sensor also includes a processor coupled to the sensor and configured to receive a signal from the sensor indicating the location of the aperture and configured to control the first and second actuators to maneuver the alignment orifice within the x-y plane to be co-axially located with the aperture in response to the sensor signal. 
     Further, the HHTS sensor may be a self-contained unit in that the sensor includes a battery and a vacuum pump system that are disposed within the housing. The vacuum pump system may be mechanically coupled to one or more suction cups disposed on the housing such that the HHTS sensor may be secured to a surface where an underlying aperture is to be detected. The HHTS sensor may further include handles for easy maneuvering by a human user and may further include mounting interfaces for mounting the HHTS sensor as an end effector onto a modular robotic system under control of a master control system. 
     As foreshadowed in the background, a robotic manufacturing systems may include carriages, assemblies, and actuators to which are attached end-effectors and other tooling. Under a master control system or master control operator, the robot arm may move an end effector *such as the HHTS sensor) into position where the end effector performs its intended manufacturing task. For example, to fasten a surface to an underlying support structure having apertures, a human operator or a master control system may utilize the HHTS sensor to detect and accurately locate underlying apertures in as support structure despite being unable to be seen from the one side of the surface. Once located and an alignment orifice is maneuvered to be co-axially located with the underlying detected aperture, Then, a different end-effector (or hand-held device) drills one or more holes through the surface, while still a third end-effector inserts fasteners (e.g., rivets) into the holes, and installs the fasteners, thereby securing the surface to the support structure. 
     Various embodiments of the inventive self-contained HHTS sensor are well suited for modular manufacturing environments where an operator may quickly and easily place the HHTS sensor on a surface that it is need of drilled through-holes in precise locations. Further, the modular nature of the HHTS sensor is also well suited to be part of an overall automated system under the control of a master control system. Further, the modularity and efficiency of the various portions of the overall manufacturing system is increased thereby reducing downtime and repair costs. These and other aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein are better understood with respect to the descriptions of  FIGS. 1-6  below. 
       FIG. 1  shows an isometric view of a hand-held through-skin sensor  100  (HHTS sensor, hereinafter) having automated aperture-locating mechanism  121  according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. The HHTS  100  may be used in a typical manufacturing environment where there is a need to determine the location of an aperture (e.g., a bolt or rivet hole/receptacle) that is located below a skin or surface (e.g., an airplane body panel or car body panel). As such, as the aperture to be located cannot be seen from above the surface, a need to locate the aperture from the top-side of the surface exists so as to be able to drill a hole or punch a fastener through the surface at the exact location of the underlying aperture designated to secure the fastener below the surface. In this manner, the fastener (and several other similarly situated fasteners) may hold the surface to an underlying body support structure. Thus, it becomes important to quickly and accurately locate the underlying aperture to keep a manufacturing process moving forward quickly and with precision. 
     The HHTS sensor  100  includes a housing  110  for containing and mounting all component so the HHTS sensor  100 . The housing may include a lower portion  111  that contains a cavity for mounting the automated aperture-locating mechanism  121 . The various components of the automated aperture-locating mechanism  121  are described below with respect to  FIG. 5 , but for now, the portion includes an alignment orifice  122  (sometimes called a bushing or drill-bit bushing) mounted to an alignment assembly (not shown as it is disposed inside the lower portion  111  of the housing  110 ) suited to move the alignment orifice  122  in an x-y plane  123  as controlled by a processor (not shown in  FIG. 1 ). The alignment assembly includes a first actuator configured to move the alignment orifice  122  in the x-direction in the x-y plane  123  and a second actuator configured to move the alignment orifice in the y-direction in the x-y plane  123 . The alignment orifice  122  may be flanked by a sensor array  120  that is disposed within the housing and on the movable assembly co-located with the alignment orifice  122 . That is, the sensor may move on the assembly in concert with the alignment orifice. As will be described in greater detail below with respect to  FIG. 2-5 , the sensor array  120  may be configured to detect the underlying aperture so as to provide a feedback signal to the processor which can manipulate the alignment assembly to move the alignment orifice  122  to the location of the underlying aperture within the housing  110 . That is, the housing  110  will remain stationary with respect to the surface and the alignment orifice  122  will be moved to the aperture. 
     When an operator first approaches a situation for using the HHTS sensor  100 , the operator may grasp the HHTS sensor  100  using a left-side handle  111  and a right-side handle  112  that are disposed on the housing  110  at respective right and left sides of the housing  110 . These handles  111  and  112  include respective actuation buttons  125  and  126 , a first actuation button  125  located on a top portion of the left-side handle  111  and a second actuation button  126  located on a top side of the right-side handle  112 . These actuation buttons  125  and  126  enable the operator to initiate two different automated procedures for locating the underlying aperture when the HHTS sensor  100  is near an underlying aperture (described next). 
     As an operator approaches a manufacturing situation where an underlying aperture is to be located, the operator may place the HHTS sensor  100  relatively close to where the operator believes the underlying aperture to be. That is, the operator will “guess” where the underlying aperture is and move the HHTS sensor  100  (by moving with the handles  111  and  112 ) to be near the surface. When placed near the underlying aperture, the sensor array  120  will detect the aperture and send a sensor signal to a processor in the HHTS sensor  100 . The processor will, in turn, interpret the sensor signal to determine where the detected aperture is in relation to the alignment orifice (e.g., vector and distance). This relative distance may be shown in a graphical format using the display  116 . That is, the display may show the alignment orifice  122  at the center of the display  116  while the detected aperture location is shown somewhere within the x-y plan  123  of the display  116  as well. If the detected aperture position is, in fact, within the x-y plane  123  of the display, then the operator can know that this is “close enough” for the HHTS sensor to automatically co-locate the alignment orifice with the detected aperture. Thus, the operator may actuate the first actuation button  125  on the HHTS sensor  100  to engage a lock-in-place procedure whereby a vacuum suction sub-system (not shown in  FIG. 1 ) secures the HHTS sensor  100  to the surface. In this manner, the HHTS sensor  100  is secured to the surface near the aperture so the operator may engage a second procedure to automatically move the alignment orifice  122  to be co-axially located with the detected aperture as described next. 
     Once secured in place by the vacuum suction sub-system, an operator may actuate the second actuation button  126  whereby the processor determines how far the alignment orifice  122  needs to move in the x direction and the y direction in the x-y plane  123  and then generates control signals to maneuver the movable assembly in the x-direction and the y-direction to co-axially locate the alignment orifice  122  with the underlying detected aperture. Thus, the processor may control an x-direction actuator (not shown in  FIG. 1 ) to maneuver the alignment orifice  122  in the x-direction within the x-y plane. Similarly, the processor may control a y-direction actuator (not shown in  FIG. 1 ) to maneuver the alignment orifice  122  in the y-direction within the x-y plane  123 . The maneuverings within the x-y plane  123  are intended to co-locate the center point of the alignment orifice with the center point of the located underlying aperture. In this manner, a through-hole may be drilled in the surface (e.g., through the skin) so that a fastener (e.g., bolt or rivet or the like) may be used to secure the surface to an underlying support structure. These procedures are discussed further below with respect to  FIGS. 3-5 . Prior to this discussion, the nature and patterns of various embodiments of the sensor array  120  are discussed with respect to  FIGS. 2A-2D . 
       FIG. 2A-D  show different configurations of a sensor array  120  that may be disposed in the hand-held through-skin sensor of  FIG. 1  according to embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein. In short, the sensor array  120  may include a number of different patterns of sensors and/or configurations of sensor configured to generate signals to the processor facilitate the zeroing in on an underlying aperture at or near the secured HHTS sensor  100 . The sensor array  120  may be comprised of electromagnetic sensors, x-ray sensors or ultra-sonic sensors. While a skilled artisan understands manners in which x-ray sensors or ultra-sonic sensors may be implemented, the remainder of this disclosure discusses manners in which electromagnetic sensors may be implemented. 
     In these embodiments, the different configurations of sensor arrays  120  feature a plurality of electromagnetic sensor elements  230  arranged in specific patterns. These elements  230  may comprise both an electromagnetic field generating portion (e.g., a position that generates a magnetic field) and an electromagnetic field sensing portion (e.g., a magnetic field sensor) (not shown individually). In other embodiments, these elements  320  are just magnetic field sensors that detect an electromagnetic field generated from a remote target device.  FIG. 2A  shows a first sensor array configuration wherein the sensor pattern comprises a first set of eight magnetic sensor elements  230  disposed on a first axis and a second set of eight magnetic sensor elements  230  disposed on a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. In this configuration, a first set of four sensor elements within the first set of eight sensor elements aligned in the first axis may be disposed on one side of the alignment orifice  120  while the other set of four elements in the first set of eight sensor elements aligned in the first axis may be disposed on an opposite side of the alignment orifice  120  (still aligned within the first axis). Likewise, a first set of four sensor elements within the second set of eight sensor elements aligned in the second axis may be disposed on one side of the alignment orifice  120  while the other set of four elements in the second set of eight sensor elements aligned in the second axis may be disposed on an opposite side of the alignment orifice  120  (still aligned within the second axis). The configurations of electromagnetic sensor elements  230  in  FIG. 2A  may be part of a detection algorithm suited to determine the location of the underlying aperture. Sensor readings are obtained either using the absolute magnitude of the sensor&#39;s readings from all axes, or by using just the Z reading of the sensor. Using just the Z axis readings reduces the range of the sensor but has less sensitivity to errors introduced by magnet tilt. The rest of the algorithm is unchanged by this choice.
 
 V =√{square root over ( V   x   2   +V   y   2   +V   z   2 )}
 
OR
 
 V=V   z  
 
     The detection algorithm is embodied in a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller suited to generate one or more move vectors. In various embodiments, differential measurements (e.g., the differences between the detected aperture position and the orifice position) are calculated by subtracting the magnetic field reading on a given sensor from the reading of the sensor on the opposite side of the unit. Each of these pairs of sensors may be sampled in iterations to generate move vectors over time. The move vectors are separated into X and Y vector components based on the geometry of the sensor pair with respect to the alignment orifice and the X-Y coordinate plane ( 123  of  FIG. 1 ). For example, a sensor pair at 30 degrees to the horizontal of the x-axis contributes sin(30°)*(Move vector) to X and cos(30°)*(Move vector) to X. Move vectors for X and Y from each sensor are summed to produce a “net move vector” for X (V X ) and a “net move vector” for Y (V Y ), as below: 
               V   X     =         ∑     i   =   1       n   /   2       ⁢       V   i     ×     cos   ⁡     (     θ   i     )           -       ∑     j   =       n   /   2     +   1       n     ⁢       V   j     ×     cos   ⁡     (     θ   j     )                           V   Y     =         ∑     i   =   1       n   /   2       ⁢       V   i     ×     sin   ⁡     (     θ   i     )           -       ∑     j   =       n   /   2     +   1       n     ⁢       V   j     ×     sin   ⁡     (     θ   j     )                   
If a sensor pair is overflowed (e.g., the move vector will not resolve), that specific sensor pair is temporarily excluded from the calculation for one or more iterations, and the previous readings from that sensor pair are used until the overflow ends. The net move vector is then scaled by the largest sensor pair reading seen during this referencing run (V max ), to allow the system to operate independent of target depth. The result is a unit-move vector in each of X and Y.
 
             =       V   X       V   max                   =       V   Y       V   max             
The unit-move vector is used to set a position target for the PID controller for the actuator responsible for movement in the respective axis. PID feedback is provided by linear potentiometers associated with each axis actuator. Axis movement actuation may be stopped once the unit move vector for the respective axis falls below a configurable value, allowing a mutually beneficial tradeoff between accuracy and search speed.
 
     Additional algorithm influences and safeguards may be present. In a first influence, a minimum sensor reading may be used to determine if a target magnet is present. If there is no appreciable detection of any electromagnetic field, the HHTS sensor may return an error to the operator (e.g., return an error message on its display or generate signal to remote operation base). In a second influence, a sensor overflow restriction parameter may ensure that no sensor pair is still saturated (e.g., still in an overflow state) when the search has completed before transitioning to iterative move vector generations. If the HHTS sensor determines that one or more sensor pairs are still in overflow states, an error will be given to the operator. In a third influence, a minimum successful read count parameter may be used to ensure the system does not succeed on the basis of only a single success reading that could be affected by environmental noise. That is, at least a second pair of sensors is needed to return meaningful feedback for the algorithm to proceed. 
     In another embodiment, the HHTS sensor also incorporates a zeroing feature to improve accuracy by controlling for the presence of earth&#39;s magnetic field and other magnetic sources near the system. To make use of this, the HHTS sensor may be “homed” prior to the installation of the target magnet. Readings for each sensor are collected over a 1 second period and averaged, and these readings are subsequently subtracted from the sensor when performing a search. This feature may improve accuracy by over 0.25 mm. Another safeguard for this system is a maximum reading and maximum standard deviation of the average reading for each sensor that can be detected during the homing step. If either the maximum reading or the standard deviation exceeds a configurable value, the homing step will fail on the basis that there are excessively large or fluctuating magnetic fields present. Each of the above-described aspects, features, safeguards and/or influences may be implemented with respect to each of the following sensor configurations as well. 
       FIG. 2B  shows a second sensor array  120  configuration wherein the sensor pattern comprises a first set of six magnetic sensor elements  230  disposed on a first axis and a second set of six magnetic sensor elements  230  disposed on a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. In this configuration, a first set of three sensor elements within the first set of six sensor elements aligned in the first axis may be disposed on one side of the alignment orifice  122  while the other set of three elements in the first set of six sensor elements aligned in the first axis may be disposed on an opposite side of the alignment orifice  122  (still aligned within the first axis). Likewise, a first set of three sensor elements within the second set of six sensor elements aligned in the second axis may be disposed on one side of the alignment orifice  122  while the other set of three elements in the second set of six sensor elements aligned in the second axis may be disposed on an opposite side of the alignment orifice  122  (still aligned within the second axis). Further, an additional four sensor elements are disposed at corners of a three by three square formed with the first sensor element of each of the sets of three described above. 
       FIG. 2C  shows a third sensor array  120  configuration wherein the pattern comprises a first set of four magnetic sensor elements disposed on a first axis, a second set of four magnetic sensor elements disposed on a second axis perpendicular to the first axis, a third set of four magnetic sensor elements disposed on a third axis that is offset from the each of the first and second axes by 45 degrees, and a fourth set of four magnetic sensor elements disposed on a fourth axis perpendicular to the third axis. 
       FIG. 2D  shows a fourth sensor array  120  configuration wherein the pattern comprises a set of 16 magnetic sensor elements  230  disposed in a circular pattern, each magnetic sensor array  120  disposed equidistant from the alignment orifice  122 . Other array configurations and patterns are contemplated and/or possible but not discussed herein for brevity. 
       FIG. 3  shows a rear view of the HHTS sensor  100  of  FIG. 1  showing a surface engagement mechanism according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. The surface engagement mechanism includes several components such as surface suction cups  345   a  and  345   b  that are coupled to a vacuum pump (not shown) powered by an on-board battery (not shown). The vacuum pump and battery may be disposed below a rear-access cover plate  348 . The mechanism further includes surface alignment posts  340   a - c  for ensuring that the alignment orifice is aligned normal to the surface being engaged. 
     When an operator first approaches a surface wherein an underlying aperture is to be located, the operator may place the rear side of the HHTS sensor  100  facing the surface in a location reasonably thought to be close to the aperture. The sensor system will attempt to locate the aperture and display a representation of it on the display screen on the front side of the HHTS sensor  100 . If the aperture can be seen in the display, the operator may actuate the first actuation input/button  125  to secure the HHTS sensor  100  to the surface using the surface engagement mechanism. Thus, the vacuum pump will initiate pumping are from cavities formed by the surface suction cups  345   a  and  345   b  and the engaged surface. When a threshold pressure is reached or when the alignment points are all sufficiently engaged with the surface, the vacuum pump is turned off and the HHTS sensor  100  may be ready to engage the automated aperture location procedure by actuating the second actuation input/button  126 . 
       FIG. 4  shows the HHTS sensor  100  of  FIG. 1  in conjunction with a drilling system  465  engaged with a surface  450  according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. In this view, one can see the HHTS sensor  100  placed near a surface that may be in need of a through hole (e.g., by way of drilling using a drill  470 ) concentrically placed with and undying aperture  455  that is disposed on a support structure  451 . In this embodiment, the HHTS sensor  100  may be an electromagnetic sensing device such that a magnetic target  456  may be placed in the aperture to provide an object in which the HHTS sensor  100  can detect. Thus, an operator may physically place the HHTS sensor  100  near the surface in a place reasonably close to the underlying aperture  455  and then initiate the automated procedure for maneuvering the alignment orifice  122  to be concentrically aligned with the detected magnetic target  456  that is placed in the aperture  455 . 
     Once the aperture  455  has been located and the alignment orifice  122  is concentrically aligned with the detected aperture  455 , an additional manufacturing task, such as drilling a through hole in the surface  450 , may be accomplished. Thus, an operator may utilize a separate manual hand-drill  471  or an automated end-effector drill  470  to bore a hole through the surface by maneuvering the drill bit through the alignment orifice  122  (e.g., through the drill-bit bushing). Once drilled, the operator may remove the HHTS sensor  100  and install some manner of a fastener, e.g., a rivet or a bolt (not shown), to secure the surface  450  to the support structure  451  though the newly bored through-hole and the aperture  455 . 
     In other embodiments, the HHTS sensor  100  and the drill  470  may be part of an overall automated manufacturing system  465  whereby these “end-effectors” are mounted on a carriage  471  that may be movably attached to a rail system  472 . In this manner, the operator may control all components through a remote-control system (not shown) or the overall process may be automated such that operator control is not needed once the process has been imitated. That is, the automated manufacturing system  465  may engage an automated procedure to locate all underlying apertures  455  in a support structure  451 , subsequently drill through-holes in the surface  450  at each aperture location and install fasteners at each drilled location. Aspects of such an automated system are described in greater detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/876,415 co-owned by the assignee of the present application and hereby, incorporated by reference. 
       FIG. 5  shows a block diagram of an overall manufacturing system  500  that may be set in a manufacturing environment that includes HHTS sensor  100  of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. The manufacturing system  500  shown in  FIG. 5  shows one specific configuration of an overall automated system whereby the HHTS sensor  100  is part of an automated system in which an operator may not utilize the HHTS sensor  100  in the manner described in previous stand-alone scenarios. Rather, the system  500  described in  FIG. 5  is an integrated automated system  500  under the control and direction of a master control system  559 . As such, an operator may simply control all manufacturing tasks through the master control system  559 . 
     In this block diagram, the HHTS sensor  100  includes a local controller  501  (e.g., a local processor) for controlling actions and functions of the HHTS sensor  100  and, at times, the carriage  471 . The local controller  501  includes a processor  507  configured to execute instructions that may be stored in a local memory  508 . The memory  508  is coupled to the processor  507  via a communication and data bus  502 . The bus  502  is also coupled to one or more interfaces  505  and  506  for one or more actuators, such as respective x-actuator  515  and y-actuator  516 . Thus, as the sensor array  120  detects and underlying aperture, signals form the sensor array may be sent to the processor  507  through the bus  502  and then interpreted to produce actuation signals to the interfaces  505  and  506  for inducing movement in the respective x and y directions to zero in on the underlying aperture. The controller  501  also includes a display adapter  511  coupled to the bus  502  and coupled to the display  116 . In other embodiments, additional interfaces (not shown) may be present for coupling additional modular devices or other devices (not shown). 
     The controller  501  may also be coupled to a pneumatic pump system  519  (e.g., a vacuum pump) via the bus  502  such that the processor may control the pneumatic pump system  519  in an automated manner. Further, the controller  501  is coupled to an on-board rechargeable battery  520  (e.g., a power source) to provide power to this and other components. The battery  520  is also coupled to the pneumatic pump system  519  the x-actuator  515  and the y-actuator  516 . 
     The local controller  501  also includes an input/output interface  510  suitable for handling communication signals to and from other related manufacturing devices and controllers in the system  500 . In this embodiment, the I/O interface  510  is communicatively coupled to a communication interface  520  housed within the carriage sub-system  471 . In other embodiments, the communication interface  520  may be in direct communication with the master control system  559 . The communication protocol for these devices may be standard Ethernet using TCP/IP protocol. Other embodiments may be a proprietary communication protocol, such as a proprietary “Smart Tool Protocol” (STP), using TCP/IP Ethernet or other standard serial or parallel interfaces (e.g., RS-232 or the like). 
     The communication interface  520  associated with the carriage  471  may be coupled to one or more robotic rail actuators  530  configured to move the carriage  471  in one or more direction or orientations (such as along a rail  472 ). The master control system  559 , in turn, may include a master controller  560  that includes an I/O interface  561 , a processor  562  and a memory  563  for accomplishing master control tasks and functions. 
       FIG. 6  shows a flow diagram of a method for using the HHTS sensor  100  in a manufacturing environment of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. The method described with respect to the flow diagram of  FIG. 6  is for a manufacturing function for locating an underlying aperture disposed below a skin or surface and then drilling a hole through a concentrically aligned orifice. The order and number of steps, and the steps themselves, may be different in other embodiments. 
     The method begins at step  600  and proceeds to a first step  601  wherein the master control system or an operator maneuver the HHTS sensor ( 100  of  FIG. 1 ) to be adjacent to an underlying aperture in a support structure disposed below a skin or surface, During this time, one or more sensor array algorithms (as discussed above with respect to  FIG. 2 ) may be continuously iterating to detect underlying apertures and/or targets disposed in apertures. If the master control system or operator can determine that the HHTS sensor  100  is close enough to display the aperture in the display somewhere, then the method may move to step  603  whereby the vacuum pump system is initiated (or in the case of a modular manufacturing environment as derived in  FIG. 4 , the robotic arm actuator may be locked into place). The vacuum pump forces air out of cavities formed by suction cups on the rear side of the HHTS sensor  100  and the surface. This step may be initiated by an operator actuating a pushbutton input disposed on the HHTS sensor  100  or may be initiated by a master control system once the display shows the detection of the aperture. 
     Once locked into place, the operator or the master control system may initiate an aperture location procedure at step  605 . If this step is a manual step, the procedure may be initiated by the operator actuating a second actuation input button disposed on the HHTS sensor  100 . If this step is an automated system step, the procedure may be initiated by the master control system after a requisite period of time whereby the HHTS sensor  100  is secured in place. 
     The automated location procedure includes two simultaneous operation branches, one for zeroing in on the x-location of the detected aperture with iterative steps  610  and  612  and one for zeroing in on the y-location of the aperture with iterative steps  620  and  622 . Looking at the x-location branch, a vector and distance may be determined at the query step  610  in the x-direction. That is, the distance and direction (vector) of the alignment orifice away from the detected aperture may be determined in the x-direction only. If not aligned, the branch moves to step  612  where the x-actuator is activated to move the alignment orifice toward the detected aperture within the x-axis. This process will repeat until the alignment orifice and the detected aperture is aligned in the x-axis. 
     Turning to the y-location branch, a vector and distance may be simultaneously determined at the query step  620  in the y-direction. That is, the distance and direction (vector) of the alignment orifice away from the detected aperture may be determined in the y-direction only. If not aligned, the branch moves to step  622  where the y-actuator is activated to move the alignment orifice toward the detected aperture within the y-axis. This process will repeat until the alignment orifice and the detected aperture is aligned in the y-axis. 
     If both x and y directions are aligned (e.g., the alignment orifice and the detected aperture are concentrically aligned) then the HHTS sensor locks the alignment orifice into place, at step  630 . As the alignment orifice is now concentrically aligned with the underlying aperture, the overall procedure is ready for drilling a hole through the surface using a drill. This may be accomplished manually by an operator or in an automated manner under the control of a master control system. Thus, at step  635 , once concentrically aligned, an operator may engage a drilling procedure in a manual manner (e.g., place a drill bit in the alignment orifice and drill a hole. In the case of an automated environment, the master control system may then maneuver a drill into place and begin an automated drilling procedure. Although not shown as a step, and additional procedure for installing a rivet or bolt to secure the surface to the support structure may be accomplished either manually or automatically. The overall method may end at step  640 . 
     Additional optional or alternative steps in this method include storing results of accomplishing the manufacturing functions in a local memory disposed in the one or more of the self-contained modular manufacturing devices. Another optional step may be loading parameters for accomplishing the manufacturing functions from a local memory disposed in one or more of the self-contained modular manufacturing devices prior to accomplishing any manufacturing function. Yet another option is to have third and fourth functions locally control after a control handshake. 
     Additional steps may be added in other embodiments, such as additional control handshakes with nested controllers as well as multiple functions at the same position, such as locating, drilling, measuring and installing a fastener with respect to a hole. Further, the steps of this method need not be performed in exactly the order depicted in  FIG. 6  and some steps may be omitted. The above example is just one illustrative example out of many illustrative examples. 
     While the subject matter discussed herein is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the claims to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the claims.