A Smart Interface for Automated Fibre Placement

The quality and consistency of components produced by Automated Fibre Placement are dependent on multiple process parameters and their interactions. In order to capture the required data, multiple data collection systems are typically used which output data in different formats, frequencies and reference systems. This results in a long process with manual steps, which can be error-prone and time consuming. This study implements a data collection and visualisation platform designed to unify and automate data capture from multiple sources and facilitate the deployment of process models. As a demonstration of the platform, multiple complex and multidirectional components are manufactured at the National Composites Centre, UK. A number of process parameters, including compaction force, surface temperature and lay-up speed, are measured continuously using the smart platform. Process variable distributions are visualised, and the data is processed into datasets which can be used to train process models.