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 (Quéven, France), a company integrated into Coriolis Group, offers a range of innovative solutions, from the design of robotic filament winding machines to prototyping filament-wound parts. This includes MF3, a robotic filament winder powered by a KUKA (Augsburg, Germany) robot. With options such as an automatic gripper and carousel, the MF3 is designed to adapt to specific needs with speed, precision and automation.

The MF3’s activities are completely automated — mold handling, auto fiber cut and attach — with the ability to quickly switch between towpreg and wet winding. It has a high winding speed of up to 4 m/s, ±0.8 mm precision, repeatability of ±0.08 mm and spool loading takes less than 2 min. According to MFTECH, the automated filament winder is applicable for all composite vessel types (Types 2-5) and complex and unconventional wound parts. It can also be used in a variety of ways depending on the end user, from compact and open R&D to a fully automatized production line.

Particular features to notes include the MF3’s carousel, which enables loading of the creel during winding in real time. The system’s automatic gripper, another feature, catches the liner in a rack, presents it to the winding station and automatically places the finished tank back into the flow. If needed, it can also potentially carry out other intermediate operations, such as dimensional and quality control, or applying a label.