Robotic large-scale continuous fiber composite 3D printing

Conventional manual manufacturing methods - hand lay-up and vacuum infusion - are to date predominantly used to produce large-scale Continuous Fiber Composite (CFC) structures for industries such as maritime, automotive, aerospace and wind energy. Conventional manufacturing is labor-intensive and compromises efficiency; manual production steps are posing a safety and
quality deficiency risk. RoboPrint revolutionizes conventional manufacturing by establishing a fully automized and digitalized CFC 3D printing process - anticipated to become a game changer in industry demanding high-performance CFC structures by avoiding manual manufacturing limitations. CFC 3D printing enables production of complex geometries and fiber architectures otherwise not feasible with conventional methods. RoboPrint develops and integrates key enabling hardware and software technologies for 3D CFC printing on an industrial scale. On the digitalization side, RoboPrint develops a Digital Twin (DT) of the robotic CFC 3D printer, unifying thermomechanical modelling of the printing process with the virtual robotic printing sequences.
Virtual 3D CFC printing enables optimization of the to-be-printed structure prior to physical printing.
Interfacing the physical CFC 3D printer with its DT significantly reduces cost, time, safety risk and waste material compared to conventional methods.