FibreFORM®

Composite handling and lay-up system. Modular and scalable.

Complex forms made simple

This product is able to form composite plies into double curvature surfaces making it ideal for laying up fuselage sections, wing skins or engine nacelles. It is perfectly able to achieve concave, convex and omega profiles.

FibreFORM® is a Loop Technology patented designed system, containing an array of fixed pitch grippers which can be manipulated so as to generate a double curvature surface whilst the whole time staying perpendicular to the ply surface throughout.

Key capabilities

POWERFUL SOFTWARE

Capable of reading CAD data, profiling the surface, and automatically generating an appropriate gripper configuration.

PRECISE AND ACCURATE

This system is highly precise which means a radical change in production efficiency. Positional repeatability of < ± 1mm.

UNCONSTRAINED BY PLANE

The system can operate in fully horizontal and vertical planes, or a combination of both. It will even operate inverted if the deployment system permits.

MODULAR AND SCALABLE

Multiple modules can be arranged in parallel, enabling the construction of impressive systems capable of laying up wing skins.

Technical specification

Overall Footprint (X/Y)	1,600mm x 550 – 20,150mm
Pickable Area	1,500mm x 400 – 20,000mm
Surface Complexity	Fifth order polynomial in X and Y directions
Minimum Segment Radius	200mm
X Gripper Density: (minimum 3)	Mod (Pickable Length / 160) + 1
Y Gripper Density: (maximum 10)	Mod (Pickable width / 160) + 1
Number of Grippers	X Gripper density x Y Gripper density
Gripper Technology	40mm vacuum others available by request
Positional Repeatability	< +/- 1mm
Total Mass (per 3×10 module)	200kg including support frame
Operational Plane	Horizontal (normal operation) Vertical, Inverted (application specific)