A robot to weave carbon fibre

KUKA weaving with carbon fibre from Basia Dż on Vimeo.

As part of her end-of-studies project, Basia Dżaman, a Polish student from the School of Form, a Polish school of design, modified one of KUKA’s robotic arms to weave carbon fibres. The design student started making parts thanks to a 3D printer. Once the parts are installed on the industrial robot, it can weave carbon fibre according to the model programmed by the operator. By coating it with resin before weaving, it becomes solid as classic carbon fibre.

Basia Dżaman designed the 3D parts with Rhino software, which enabled her to modify each part according to her preferred stitches. Each part takes three to five hours to be 3D printed. For her graduation project, Basia Dżaman used the robotic arm to make traditional Polish stitches, or snutki. In spite of the quite limited interest in these stitches, this project opens up the scope of possibilities in manufacturing objects in carbon fibers. For Basia Dżaman, this project “has proven to be a versatile process which leaves many possibilities open for exploration in the future.”

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