Operation of the Collaborative Composite Manufacturing (CCM) System.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Robotics
• Manufacturing Engineering

Background:

• Traditional automated fiber placement (AFP) systems are limited to simple composite structures.
• Industry demand is increasing for complex, closed composite parts.
• Existing AFP systems lack the dexterity for intricate geometries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the dexterity of AFP systems for manufacturing complex composite parts.
• To develop an on-line path correction algorithm for improved accuracy and efficiency.
• To enable the production of small, complex, or closed composite structures.

Main Methods:

• Integration of a 1-degree of freedom (DoF) rotational stage, a 6-RSS parallel robot, and a 6-DoF serial robot.
• Utilizing a serial robot to mimic human hands for precise fiber placement.
• Implementing an on-line pose correction algorithm with visual feedback for path adjustment.

Main Results:

• The developed system demonstrated improved dexterity for AFP.
• The on-line pose correction algorithm effectively addressed path planning constraints and robot positioning errors.
• Experimental validation confirmed the system's capability to manufacture a Y-shaped composite structure.

Conclusions:

• The enhanced AFP system significantly expands the capabilities of composite manufacturing.
• The integration of multi-robot systems and on-line correction enables the production of complex composite parts.
• This research paves the way for manufacturing advanced composite structures with intricate designs.