"Scorpion [is] an AFP4.0 system that includes a Fanuc M-900iB/700 robot, a four-lane 0.25-inch AFP head, a 3 x 1.5-meter flat vacuum charge table, a laser safety enclosure and operator interface. The AFP head , which can lay down thermoset or thermoplastic prepreg fiber or dry fiber, features servo-powered creels and offers a two-segment eye-safe laser or a four-segment high-output laser. Speed capabilities include 100 m/min initial feed, 75 m/min refeed and 75 m/min cut. Standard in-process inspection covers tow ends and process errors; optional inspection technologies cover laps/gaps, foreign object debris (FOD) and backer detection. System expansion options include a part rotator, eight- or 16-lane head and 0.125- or 0.5-inch tows."

CompositesWorld Article

Scorpion AFP4.0

Through collaboration [with Electroimpact and industry], the NCC believe that AFP-ATL has the ability to reduce the barrier to entry to these game-changing technologies and expand the composite market into other areas such as renewable energy, oil and gas, construction and rail.

Read the full article at CompositesWorld

More info at NCC

Electroimpact has partnered with BAE Systems to create a Factory of the Future. Jig less tooling, collaborative robots and a flexible and reconfigurable factory.

"Imagine the factory floor as a huge chessboard and on it you place large robots, which can pick up an array of different tools. The robots are set on a reconfigurable grid, which can be unlocked and moved to different locations (hence the chessboard analogy). The robots are placed around a central aircraft structure — and then asked to perform various jobs."

Read more at https://www.baesystems.com/en/feature/robot-chess

"The significance of processing thermoplastic UDT at 4,000 IPM layup speeds with the variable spot size (VSS) laser is, for the first time that we know of, that thermoplastics are able to achieve thermoset layup speeds. These developments can help eliminate the need for autoclave cure, offer major and new, throughput advantages for thermoplastics," explained Michael Assadi, chief engineer at Electroimpact.

Read the full article at Aerospace Manufacturing Magazine

Last week, Electroimpact participated in the Air Force Global Strike Command’s innovation hub (STRIKEWERX) "Design Sprint" event to aid B-52 maintainers throughout the command. As an industry representative, Electroimpact worked alongside airmen and academia partners to design and build rapid prototypes to improve the process for maintenance of brake pads on the B-52 aircraft.

Read more about how STRIKEWERX tackles B-52 maintainer’s issue

The VSS laser + ServoCreel, both patent pending, are two of the recent innovations made by Electroimpact's AFP Group. These fit into their overall AFP4.0 philosophy which has the following tenets: Quality, reliability, performance, and utilization.

"Electroimpact is developing a new technology based on old technologies. Named SCRAM, or Scalable Composite Robotic Additive Manufacturing, the system is an integration of an FFF 3D printer and a thermoplastic AFP machine. The system is comprised of an accurate robot, a rotating build platform, and a climate-controlled build chamber. The end effector carries multiple material systems to print a soluble support material (the “tool”), a continuous fiber tape, and a chopped fiber material. Each print starts with the robot depositing the support material on the build platform. It then automatically switches to printing continuous fiber and chopped fiber-reinforced material to produce the part. The continuous fiber is deposited using “in-situ consolidation”, in which the tape is laser-welded to the substrate material and compacted in process. The resulting continuous fiber-reinforced parts are on the order of out-of-autoclave levels of porosity."

Read more from the JEC Group: http://www.jeccomposites.com/knowledge/international-composites-news/printing-continuous-carbon-fibre-true-3d

Electroimpact creates SCRAM, a true 3d printer and multifunctional manufacturing cell for complex, aero-quality continuous fiber composite parts.

Read more at Composites World: https://www.compositesworld.com/articles/combining-afp-with-3d-printing-for-flexible-parts-production