Crafting the future of aviation manufacture

Ultima Forma

The UR10 is essential in helping Ultima Forma create pipes for zero-carbon aircraft fuel systems, ensuring maximum control for the deposition of metal layers in each step of the process

In Short

Ultima Forma is a UK-based materials science, technology and engineering business. Creating products and manufacturing in a unique way, the company aims to redefine how metal is utilised to make advanced engineering components. Ultima Forma develops processes to create flexible components for use in a range of applications, from hydrogen fuel systems for zero-carbon aviation, to waveguides for satellites. The Universal Robots’ UR10 cobot plays a crucial role in enabling these technologies.

The Challenge

The aviation industry is pushing towards zero-carbon aviation for 2035, with a focus on the use of liquid hydrogen as a sustainable fuel. It’s an ambitious goal with significant challenges, such as the need to develop new storage solutions for liquid hydrogen. The materials used in this process must be strong, ductile at temperatures below -253°C, and extremely lightweight. Working with leading aerospace manufacturers, Ultima Forma has developed vacuum-insulated pipes for zero-carbon aircraft fuel systems.

Ultima Forma has accomplished this by developing a patented process of depositing alternating layers of copper and nickel, with sub-micron thickness. By controlling the thickness of each layer, the properties of the material are tuneable, creating highly resilient and lightweight structures. However, the deposition of metal layers in each step of the process, the movement precision required, and the need for position and time control are all crucial.

Enter Universal Robots’ UR10 cobot as the perfect enabler of this highly demanding task.

Ultima Forma

Industry Metal and Machining

Country UK based, operating globally

Number of Employees 50

Cobot used UR10

Key value drivers:

Supports the delivery of a new type of manufacturing for the aerospace industry
Flexible, multi-use system, with simple setup process
Quality and repeatability of parts assured

Tasks solved by collaborative robots:

Deposits consecutive layers of metal safely and accurately
Interfaces with factory PLC, allowing automatic control of external systems
Ensures precise locations tracked for process experimentation and development
Enables data collection for quality assurance to clients

Automation challenges solved:

Dimensional high quality standards required by the aviation industry
Millisecond precision and nanometer accuracy in processes
Hours of manual experimentation reduced for employees thanks to data capture

We’re on a mission to tackle problems that conventional technologies simply don’t have the answers to. The products we’re creating are designed for the future of aviation and aerospace. A large part of it is re-imagining what’s possible. The cobots we use from Universal Robots are an essential part of making that happen.

Steve Newbury, Managing Director, Ultima Forma

How they did it

The quality and repeatability of parts is of paramount importance to Ultima Forma’s customers. The UR10 collects data every millisecond, providing detailed insights for quality assurance.

Delivers extremely high level of control

The extremely high level of control the UR10 delivers is essential in allowing Ultima Forma to achieve the quality standards required in aerospace manufacture. As a highly regulated industry, all manufactured components have to meet incredibly high standards and have strict quality requirements. The UR10 offers millisecond precision and nanometer accuracy on parts produced, and easily interfaces with the process control hardware of the whole factory.

“What we’re doing is unique globally,” comments Steve Newbury, Managing Director, Ultima Forma. “We’ve created a whole new type of manufacturing process here that’s designed to create products for the aerospace industry of the future, and we simply couldn’t achieve those processes without the capabilities of the UR10 from Universal Robots”.

Three-week welding robot integration to overcome labor shortage

The UR10 can be manually positioned

Manufacturing parts using the electro-deposition process, quality and repeatability of parts must be guaranteed. The ability to collect data is essential to demonstrate to Ultima Forma’s clients that quality assured parts are being produced, and the UR10 enables the company to do this with ease.

Using the free drive mode, users are able to manually position the UR10 where required, and save that position so it can be called back automatically in a later program. This is very useful for setting up, when the coordinates of where users might want the arm to be are not defined.

What struck me most about the UR10 was the ease of setup. I came into this with very basic coding experience, and never any robotics experience or cobots. But we had the arm unboxed, and up and running to a basic level within just a few hours

Sam Clayson, Project Engineer Ultima Forma

The UR10 robot is easy to operate and user-friendly

Universal Robots make it easy to specify and design bespoke end-effectors, while also having an extensive catalogue of UR+ products. In this case, Ultima Forma has designed a bespoke ‘jig’ which acts as the end-effector, allowing parts to be securely held during electroforming, while providing the necessary power which drives the metal deposition process. The UR10 is mounted in an inverted orientation on a linear 7th axis track (supplied by Kyrus Automation), which expands Ultima Forma’s manufacturing process capability.

Driving change in a scalable way

Decarbonisation of aviation is a prime example of where new technologies are needed to innovate because there simply are no pre-existing solutions. The complexity of the processes needed for the industry, and quality level requirements, make cobots excellent candidate manufacturing tools because of the control, precision and flexibility they offer at an affordable price point.

“Our vision is to use materials science, advanced technologies, and collaborations with companies like Universal Robots to really push the boundaries of what is possible, bringing innovative solutions for the energy transition in the aviation industry,” concludes Steve Newbury, Managing Director, Ultima Forma. “It’s about redefining what’s possible, and Universal Robots are helping us to drive that change, and make it scalable.”

Our vision is to use materials science, advanced technologies, and collaborations with companies like Universal Robots to really push the boundaries of what is possible, bringing innovative solutions for the energy transition in the aviation industry. It’s about redefining what’s possible, and Universal Robots are helping us to drive that change, and make it scalable.

Steve Newbury, Managing Director, Ultima Forma

Get in touch with Universal Robots

Thousands of businesses rely on Collaborative Robots to...

Increase productivity
Adapt to changing product demand
Improve employee well-being and retention
Staff through labor shortages