# US 10,870,200 B2 · Methods and apparatus for tube fabrication > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,870,200 B2 - Document ID: US10870200B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/260,149 - Filed: 2019-01-29 - Published: 2019-08-01 - Granted: 2020-12-22 - Earliest claimed: 2018-01-29 - Assignees: Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Applicants: Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Inventors: Markus Kayser; Levi Cai; Nassia Inglessis; Sara Falcone; Neri Oxman - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10870200B2 ## CPC - B29C 70/30: Shaping by lay-up, i.e. applying fibres, tape or broadsheet on a mould, former or core; Shaping by spray-up, i.e. spraying of fibres on a mould, former or core - B25J 5/04: wherein the guideway is also moved, e.g. travelling crane bridge type - B25J 9/142: {comprising inflatable bodies} - B29B 15/10: Coating or impregnating {independently of the moulding or shaping step}(applying liquids in general B05) - B29C 70/38: Automated lay-up, e.g. using robots, laying filaments according to predetermined patterns {(application heads for tyres B29D30/28)} - B29C 71/02: Thermal after-treatment {(B29C71/0063 and B29C71/0072 take precedence)} - B29C 2035/0827: {using UV radiation} - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) - B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50}) - B29B: PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS ## Abstract A team of robots may fabricate a tubular structure. Each robot may fabricate a tube by winding resin-covered fiber around an inflated, cylindrical mandrel of the robot. The resin may cure, resulting in a hardened tube segment The robot may extend the tube by fabricating additional segments of the tube, one segment at a time. After a first segment cures, the mandrel may deflate, then the robot may move up inside the tube, then the mandrel may inflate, and the robot may begin fabricating another tube segment. After completing a tube segment, the robot may tilt relative to that segment, before starting the next segment. By doing so, the robot may cause the tube to be curved. A computer may guide the team of robots during fabrication of the tubes, by executing a flocking algorithm. The algorithm may prevent collisions with already fabricated tube segments. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of fabricating a tube, wherein: (a) the fabricating comprises constructing a set of multiple tube segments of the tube; and (b) the method includes, for each specific tube segment in the set (i) inflating a cylindrical mandrel of a robot, (ii) constructing the specific tube segment by (A) winding resin-covered fiber around the mandrel while the mandrel is inflated, and (B) then curing the resin, (iii) deflating the mandrel and detaching the mandrel from the specific tube segment, and (iv) moving the robot, while the mandrel is at least partially inside the specific tube segment, in such a way that more of the robot protrudes from the specific tube segment after the moving than before the moving. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the method further includes, for each particular tube segment in a subset of the tube segments, tilting a central axis of the robot at an acute angle relative to the central axis of the particular tube segment, which tilting is performed after fabricating the particular tube segment and before fabricating any other tube segment. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the winding comprises revolving a nozzle of the robot around the mandrel while the resin-covered fiber exits the nozzle. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the method further involves moving the nozzle, relative to the mandrel, in a direction parallel to a cylindrical axis of the mandrel. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the method further includes actuating the moving of the robot, by pressing treads of the robot against an interior wall of the tube while each of the treads, respectively, moves in a loop around a set of rotating wheels. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the tilting causes the tube to be curved. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein: (a) the cylindrical mandrel has a diameter; and (b) the diameter varies during the method, with the diameter being larger when the mandrel is inflated than when the mandrel is deflated. ### Claim 8 A method comprising fabricating a set of multiple tubes, in such a way that the method includes, for each specific tube in the set: (a) inflating a cylindrical mandrel of a robot; (b) constructing a tube segment by (i) winding resin-covered fiber around the mandrel while the mandrel is inflated, and (ii) then curing the resin; (c) deflating the mandrel and detaching the mandrel from the tube segment; (d) moving the robot, while the mandrel is at least partially inside the tube segment, in such a way that more of the robot protrudes from the tube segment after the moving than before the moving; and (e) repeating the inflating, winding, curing, deflating, and moving in such a way as to construct multiple tube segments of the specific tube. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the method further includes, for each specific tube in the set, tilting a central axis of a specific robot at an acute angle relative to the central axis of a particular tube segment of the specific tube, which tilting is performed after the specific robot constructs the particular tube segment and before the specific robot constructs any another tube segment of the specific tube. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the fabricating comprises a single robot fabricating the multiple tubes sequentially, one tube at a time. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein: (a) the fabricating comprises multiple robots simultaneously fabricating the multiple tubes; and (b) each of the tubes is fabricated by only one of the robots. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises controlling orientation, in a first coordinate system, of each of the multiple robots while the robots fabricate the multiple tubes. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the controlling orientation includes performing an algorithm that takes, as inputs, position, in the first coordinate system, of each of the multiple robots and of previously fabricated tube segments. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the method includes, for each specific robot in the multiple robots, converting orientation of the specific robot in the first coordinate system into orientation of the specific robot in a second coordinate system, which second coordinate system is employed only for the specific robot and not for any other robot in the multiple robots.