Title: Affordable Composite Manufacturing via Collaborative Robotic Automated Fiber-placement Technology (CRAFT)

Authors: Md Raqibul Hasan Prince, Levi Peck, Kathleen McNamara, Wei Zhao

DOI:

Abstract: Industrial robot-assisted Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) has been commonly used in large industry, defense, and research sectors for large-scale thermoset and thermoplastic composite parts manufacturing, which enables the net-shape production of high-quality composite parts for diverse applications. AFP utilizes narrow, thin steerable tows and can place materials for complex shape structures with the aid of spools, tensioners, a compaction roller, localized heat, an automatic cutter, and sensors. However, manufacturing tools such as industrial robot armassisted AFP remain costly for small-to-medium composite part manufacturing and research labs. Furthermore, these systems require extensive training in programming and process tuning before production. Strict safety protocols, guarding, and space requirements impose costs that many research labs and small businesses cannot afford. Ongoing parts maintenance, long lead times for service and spares, and costly software licenses further raise the barrier. It is almost inaccessible for education, research, and small-to-medium businesses. Due to these challenges, the primary objective of this study is to develop an affordable AFP that can work with humans and require less training on robot operation for composite manufacturing. This is achieved by integrating a lightweight custom-built fiber-placement head with a collaborative robot, UR16e, named Collaborative Robotic Automated Fiber-placement Technology (CRAFT). The flexibility of the collaborative robotic arm, combined with user-friendly path planning programming, enables the rapid design and fabrication of small-to-medium sized composite structures via CRAFT. The developed CRAFT system was used to manufacture small-sized test coupons. A comparative study of mass and mechanical properties was conducted between coupons manufactured using CRAFT and those produced via traditional hand layup. The results are analyzed and discussed to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed CRAFT platform for affordable composite manufacturing.

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Conference: SAMPE 2026

Publication Date: 2026/04/27

SKU: 19

Pages: 17

Price: $34.00