Abstract: The tape laying head disclosed mounts the laydown rollers for steerability as a unit independently of the steering of the tape head as a whole. The separate steerability of the laydown roller unit is utilized for adaptive steering control in response to edgewise drift of the tape during normal tape laying, as determined by tape edge sensors. When laying tape along a curved path other than the natural path of the tape in free-rolling movement, the laydown roller unit is steered in counterrotation to the steering of the tape head as a whole, thereby to cause a relative axial shift of increments of the tape across its width, enabling the tape to lie flat along a curved course on the lay surface.

Abstract: A tape laying machine for depositing composite tape on the surface of a mandrel having a tape laying head positionable in multiple axes by a linear interpolative feedback control in combination with an adaptive control. The feedback control receives a commanded position from a natural path part program and regulates motion of the tape laying head of the machine along a track which will not unequally tension the edges of the tape and which is highly reproducible. The adaptive control separately varies the motion produced along individual axes by the feedback control without changing the tracking path to ensure correct tape laying conditions.