During the COVID-19 lockdown, Boeing engineer Hongda Zhang taught himself robotics at home. He is now applying that work to collaborative robotic systems, or cobots, at Boeing Winnipeg.
Zhang used commercial kits and built one robot from scratch to learn how to build, code and train machines that plan paths, avoid obstacles, pick up items and identify colors and objects. That hands-on learning now informs a robotic power-drilling system his team is developing for 777 and 787 Dreamliner engine strut aft fairings at the Winnipeg Fabrication site.
“My passion for my work here never fades. It is so interesting and challenging.” — Hongda Zhang, Boeing Associate Technical Fellow
Why it matters: Cobots can operate alongside technicians in a shared workspace, reducing repetitive motion and ergonomic risks, while improving quality.
Zhang is working with engineers Claudio Zubin and Miguel Uehara to develop the project further, with the goal to expand to other programs in the future. They will work with teams to measure task time, defect rates and ergonomic improvements.
“Cobotic systems are part of automation trends in aerospace manufacturing as teams look to improve safety and consistency while addressing workforce ergonomics and productivity,” said Ben Nimmergut, vice president and Functional Chief Engineer (FCE) for Production Engineering. “Hongda, along with the Enterprise Robot Operating System Developers group, actively improves production—from quality to employee safety—through constant curiosity and readiness to turn small observations into solutions.”
Career path: Zhang started at Boeing as a numerical control (NC) programmer in 2006 on a six-month contract that turned into a 20-year engineering career. He recently became a Boeing Associate Technical Fellow (ATF), a senior technical leader recognized as a subject-matter authority who drives innovation and solves the hardest engineering problems.
“I was in my lab at Concordia University in Montreal, and a Boeing recruiter called me about a contract in Winnipeg,” Zhang said. “I still think about what my life would be like if I had missed that call.”