Multihead composite material application machine programming method and apparatus

摘要

A composite part program generator includes a computer-aided design (CAD) system interface, a path generator, a course head manager, a post-processor and a machine simulator. The composite part program generator produces composite part programs for use on a multihead composite material application machine, such as a composite tape lamination machine or an automated fiber placement (AFP) machine, to manufacture a complex composite parts, including relatively flat, contoured, or generally cylindrical composite parts. This programming method can reduce the labor and time required to produce a composite part program for a multihead composite material application machine by an order of magnitude with respect to manual or existing automated programming methods.