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This system meters argon into a
superplastic titanium forming press at the Boeing plant in Auburn, WA. It forms the lip skin for the engine nacelles of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (see below). Boeing is able to transform titanium sheets into complicated 3 dimensional shapes used all over the lightweight 787. Titanium has several advantages in aerospace; the high strength to weight ratio will help the 787 use only 80% of the fuel of comparable planes.
The project started out with a spec from Boeing derived from a legacy of prior argon systems. The initial work is mostly updating prior schematics and BOMs. The gas schematic is always different and is the first step. Then all the parts have to be sourced and procured which can be tricky when a BOM is 10+ years old. While this is going on, I used photographs of prior systems to get an idea what the right size cabinets will be, and bought the NEMA 4 enclosures.
Chassis Chess
As the parts begin to show up, a game of "chassis chess" begins with the EE. "Can I put the regulator here?" "Yes, as long as you put the breakout board 2 feet from it" and on it goes until we know where all the components will go and can see our way through the plumbing and wiring. The old fashioned way is faster than CAD in this case.
After that, the enclosures go off the be painted, while the inside panels stay home. Then the power tools come out, and we start plumbing everything together and mounting it. Eventually it all comes back together and gets programmed.
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