MAY 2016 | 33 perform the latter chore. Twenty hours a day inside a large glass case, the half-body robot methodically picks up a cell, welds and mounts it to space-grade glass, attaches a diode (which is an electrical component) to the back, and places the CIC in an area for human inspection. “We call it Susie,” said Jose Gonzalez, an assembler, of the one-armed space auto welder. Spectrolab’s lighting business is housed in a building adjacent to its solar technologies. The company has been selling helicopter searchlights since the Los Angeles Police Department first used one in 1968, and has spun off solar technologies ever since, said Luis Castro, business development manager, illumination and sensor products. While Spectrolab eventually wants to illuminate everything on a Boeing aircraft, from cabin lighting to landing lights, it also is developing Spectroscan, a form of Lidar, which stands for light detection and ranging, Castro said. Spectroscan is a radarlike camera with 3-D imaging. In the future, it is hoped the camera will enable autonomous tasks in the simplest form, helping map cargo loading on an aircraft, scanning runways for foreign object debris— even guiding driver-less cars, according to Castro. “It will change the way many things can be done,” he said. In July, Spectrolab will reflect on its 60 years of operation while Boeing celebrates its centennial. For the two companies, it will be a month of milestones. Each will reflect on past accomplishments and look hard at the future, noted Mueller, Spectrolab president. For Spectrolab, a Boeing subsidiary since 2000, it will continue to focus on core satellite and deepspace exploration markets while also diversifying its business with illumination and sensor products, Mueller said. “We’re in a business where there’s going to be a continual evolution of technology, he said. “We must always be mindful of what our customers need and when they need it. We can’t rest on our legacy.” • DANIEL.W.RALEY@BOEING.COM
Frontiers May 2016 Issue
To see the actual publication please follow the link above