Abstract: An additive manufacturing system is disclosed that comprises two or more lasers for precisely heating a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic feedstock and a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic workpiece in preparation for depositing and tamping the feedstock onto the workpiece. The system employs feedforward, a variety of sensors, and feedback to ensure that the feedstock and workpiece are properly heated.

Abstract: An additive manufacturing system is disclosed that comprises two or more lasers for precisely heating a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic feedstock and a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic workpiece in preparation for depositing and tamping the feedstock onto the workpiece. The system employs feedforward, a variety of sensors, and feedback to ensure that the feedstock and workpiece are properly heated.

Abstract: An additive manufacturing system is disclosed that comprises two or more lasers for precisely heating a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic feedstock and a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic workpiece in preparation for depositing and tamping the feedstock onto the workpiece. The system employs feedforward, a variety of sensors, and feedback to ensure that the feedstock and workpiece are properly heated.

Abstract: An additive manufacturing system is disclosed that comprises two or more lasers for precisely heating a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic feedstock and a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic workpiece in preparation for depositing and tamping the feedstock onto the workpiece. The system employs feedforward, a variety of sensors, and feedback to ensure that the feedstock and workpiece are properly heated.

Abstract: An additive manufacturing system is disclosed that heats a feedstock and a workpiece in preparation for depositing and tamping the feedstock onto the workpiece. The system comprises a first laser/optical instrument pair for precisely heating the feedstock and a second laser/optical instrument pair for precisely heating the workpiece. The laser beam from each laser is shaped into an ellipse and each beam is rotated around an angle of rotation to ensure that the feedstock and the workpiece are properly heated. The system employs feedforward, a variety of sensors, and feedback to adjust the angle of rotation of each laser beam.

Abstract: An additive manufacturing system is disclosed that heats a feedstock and a workpiece in preparation for depositing and tamping the feedstock onto the workpiece. The system comprises a first laser/optical instrument pair for precisely heating the feedstock and a second laser/optical instrument pair for precisely heating the workpiece. The laser beam from each laser is shaped into an ellipse and each beam is rotated around an angle of rotation to ensure that the feedstock and the workpiece are properly heated. The system employs feedforward, a variety of sensors, and feedback to adjust the angle of rotation of each laser beam.

Abstract: A robot is disclosed that deposits pre-preg patches. The end effector of the robot comprises a source of light that is characterized by a wavelength ?; a plenum comprising a plurality of thru-holes and a plurality of gas shafts, wherein each of the plurality of thru-holes comprises a first opening and a second opening, and wherein each of the plurality of thru-holes intersects at least one of the plurality of gas shafts; a hermetic window that: (i) is substantially transparent to light characterized by the wavelength ?, and (ii) substantially prevents the gas from flowing through the first opening of the each of the plurality of thru-holes; and an optical instrument that directs the light from the source through the hermetic window, through the first opening of each of the plurality of thru-holes, and through the second opening of each of the plurality of thru-holes.

Abstract: An additive manufacturing system is disclosed that comprises two or more lasers for precisely heating a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic feedstock and a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic workpiece in preparation for depositing and tamping the feedstock onto the workpiece. The system employs feedforward, a variety of sensors, and feedback to ensure that the feedstock and workpiece are properly heated.

Abstract: An additive manufacturing system is disclosed that comprises two or more lasers for precisely heating a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic feedstock and a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic workpiece in preparation for depositing and tamping the feedstock onto the workpiece. The system employs feedforward, a variety of sensors, and feedback to ensure that the feedstock and workpiece are properly heated.

Abstract: A pair of physically-integrated two-stage heaters are disclosed for precisely heating a thermoplastic filament and a thermoplastic workpiece in preparation for depositing the filament onto the workpiece. The design in physically compact and capable of heating the filament and workpiece to within a very narrow temperature range. This is accomplished with four independently-generated light beams, of different frequencies, that are spatially combined and transmitted, via optical fiber or free-space optics, to the location where they are needed and where they are unpacked (i.e., spatially separated) and shone onto their respective targets.

Abstract: An additive manufacturing system is disclosed that comprises two or more lasers for precisely heating a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic feedstock and a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic workpiece in preparation for depositing and tamping the feedstock onto the workpiece. The system employs feedforward, a variety of sensors, and feedback to ensure that the feedstock and workpiece are properly heated.

Abstract: An additive manufacturing system is disclosed that comprises two or more lasers for precisely heating a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic feedstock and a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic workpiece in preparation for depositing and tamping the feedstock onto the workpiece. The system employs feedforward, a variety of sensors, and feedback to ensure that the feedstock and workpiece are properly heated.