Methods and systems for automated ply boundary and orientation inspection

An automated fiber placement (AFP) machine comprising:

• an AFP head;
• at least one positioning device configured to provide a position of said AFP head within a coordinate system;
• and
• a vision system configured to determine an edge placement of a ply of fiber material as the material is placed by said AFT head, said machine programmed to calculate a position of the edge of the ply based on a position of said vision system with respect to said AFP head, and transform the position from the coordinate system associated with said AFP head to a coordinate system associated with a part fabricated by said machine.

A method for determining a position, within a coordinate system, for an edge of a ply of fiber material placed on a part mandrel, said method comprising:

• determining, utilizing a plurality of tracking devices having a known position in the coordinate system, distances to a placement head;
• receiving an orientation of the placement head from an inertial device;
• calculating a position and orientation in space for the placement head from the orientation, distances, and known positions;
• identifying, utilizing a vision system, an edge for the fiber material, a position of the vision system based on the position of the placement head;
• determining an orientation of the vision system with respect to the part mandrel;
• and
• calculating a position of the identified edge based on the position of the placement head and the orientation of the vision system.