Composite Manufacturing Process Control System

Assembly Guidance will develop and operate a proof-of-concept Composite Manufacturing Process Control System for hand laid composite parts. The functional elements of this system are: An Assembly Guidance LASERGUIDE projection system which references tooling and projects correct sequence, location and orientation of plies of composite material directly onto the parts as they are being built. The data for this information will be delivered in electronic form directly form the CAD system of Dow-UT Composite Products, Inc. An Acuity Imaging IMAGE ANALYST POWERVISION 90 vision system will be integrated with the laser projection system. The vision system will provide in-process monitoring and documentation of correct sequence, location and orientation of the plies of composite material. The vision system will reference the same electronic data used by the laser projection system. The integrated projection and vision systems will be operated in a production environment utilizing the facilities, personnel, tooling materials, and datasets of Dow-UT Composite Products, Inc.. The process of using this new system will be documented, evaluated and refined.