Adaptive manufacturing system

1. A method for processing a flexible part comprising:

holding the flexible part in a secured unconstrained processing position;

accessing a storage device having specifications of the flexible part not in the secured unconstrained processing position stored on a computer readable medium of the storage device; and

controlling a positioner to process the flexible part while in the secured unconstrained processing position by comparing a difference in shape due to a flexibility of the flexible part in the secured unconstrained processing position with a shape of the flexible part not in the secured unconstrained processing position when the flexible part has a different shape.

2. The method of claim 1 and further comprising:

obtaining the difference in shape to the flexibility of the flexible part in the secured unconstrained processing position; and

storing data indicative of the difference in shape in memory accessible to a computing device.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the obtaining of the difference in shape includes using a profilometer, such as a laser, camera system and/or measuring probe.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the obtaining of the difference in shape includes obtaining a plurality of scan frames, each scan frame corresponding to a different portion of the flexible part.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the plurality of scan frames comprise a geometric parameter with respect to a coordinate system for at least one of a distance, an angle, an arc and a circle.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein each scan frame of the plurality of scan frames corresponds to a portion at a different position with respect to the flexible part along a reference direction.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the controlling the positioner includes controlling the positioner based on a comparison of one or more scan frames of the plurality of scan frames with one or more corresponding reference frames for one or more respective portions of the flexible part.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein comparing the difference in shape comprises obtaining at least one of an interpolated reference frame and an interpolated scan frame.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the comparing the difference in shape comprises one or more of comparing the interpolated reference frame with an existing scan frame, comparing the interpolated scan frame with an existing reference frame or comparing the interpolated reference frame with the interpolated scan frame.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the controlling the positioner includes a control path to move the positioner.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein a spatial difference exists between each associated reference frame and scan frame for different portions of the flexible part.

12. The method of claim 11 and further comprising forming a unique matrix based on associated reference frames and corresponding scan frames.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the processing comprises at least one of drilling, milling, trimming, scribing, chamfering and inspecting.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the positioner is coupled to an end effector to control movement thereof.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the positioner is coupled to a holder to control movement thereof.

16. A method for processing a flexible part with a computer controlled positioner having an end effector, the method comprising:

holding the flexible part in a secured unconstrained processing position;

accessing a storage device to obtain information of the flexible part in a shape that is different than the secured unconstrained processing position; and processing the flexible part with the end effector in the secured unconstrained processing position by controlling the positioner and the end effector based on a comparison of a difference in shape due to a flexibility of the flexible part in the secured unconstrained processing position with the information of the flexible part.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein processing comprises at least one of drilling, milling, trimming, scribing, chamfering and inspecting.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein processing is performed only after the difference in shape due to the flexibility of the flexible part in the secured unconstrained processing position is known.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the information comprises design specifications of the flexible part, the method further comprising:

obtaining the difference in shape due to the flexibility of the flexible part in the secured unconstrained processing position; and

storing data indicative of the difference in shape in memory accessible to a computing device.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the obtaining of the difference in shape due to the flexibility of the flexible part in the secured unconstrained processing position includes obtaining a plurality of scan frames, each scan frame corresponding to a different portion of the flexible part.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the plurality of scan frames comprise one or more geometric parameters with respect to a coordinate system for at least one of a distance, an angle, an arc and a circle.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein each scan frame of the plurality of scan frames corresponds to a portion at a different position with respect to the flexible part along a reference direction.

23. The method of claim 20 and wherein the controlling the positioner includes controlling the positioner based on a comparison of one or more scan frames of the plurality of scan frames with one or more reference frames based on the design specifications.