Tutorial on Automation in Composite Manufacturing

Kurzfassung

In this tutorial, an overview of the state of the art, latest developments and the future on automation in composites production will be covered. The tutorial will be given jointly by NLR and DLR. A focus will therefore be put on the aerospace industry but other composite branches will be touched as well and a comparison of the different implementations of automation will be drawn. Lectures on automation of both thermoset composites & thermoplastic composites manufacturing will be given and the possibilities which arise from the current development will be discussed with the auditorium. First, the principles of automation will be discussed as well as the chances and risks connected to it. Then a general overview on automation in composite industry including state-of-the-art techniques and tools will be given. That will then be complemented with case studies. In the second part the future of automated composite manufacturing will be discussed. Topics like relevant costing, software developments, sensors developments, inline quality assurance, internet of things and smart factory will be covered here. After this tutorial, you will understand the potential of automation in composites manufacturing and have a feeling of when it is worth to invest in automation and where to start with it.