Samba Step system expands composites research for Augsburg University

Two research organizations have joined forces for projects on patch-based fiber layup: The Institute of Materials Resource Management (MRM) at Augsburg University (Augsburg, Germany), which focuses on ceramic fiber composites and data-driven computational materials science, and the faculty of mechanical engineering at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences (Augsburg, Germany).

Augsburg University intends to use Cevotec’s  (Munich, Germany) Samba Step system for field research of ceramic fiber composites. The system is based on fiber patch placement (FPP) technology. “Samba Step systems, with their flexible degree of automation, are explicitly designed for prototyping and product development in R&D departments, institutes and universities,” explains Thorsten Groene, CEO of Cevotec. Prof. Dietmar Koch, head of materials engineering at MRM, adds, “We will investigate the patch-based process using ceramic fiber composites for new applications.”

With the installation of a Samba Step system at MRM in Augsburg, Cevotec also continues the existing cooperation with Augsburg University of Applied Sciences. Prof. Neven Majić, one of Cevotec’s co-founders now dedicated to developing FPP technology at the Augsburg institute, comments, “AI is a relevant research topic for us. Fiber patch placement represents an innovative composite production technology with increased degrees of freedom. This offers a huge potential for AI development in patch-based composites manufacturing.”

While the Augsburg University was responsible for setting-up the initial Samba Step system, the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences will take over the future expansion with a sensor-intensive automated feeding unit. The Samba system, all parties agree, forms a solid foundation for joint research projects to come.