Innovation: Automated Toolless Manufacturing (AToM) in Space
Award Category: Unsurpassed Innovation, CAMX finalist; Manufacturing: Material and Process Innovation, CAMX ACE finalist
Company: National Institute of Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University
Objective: To overcome cargo bay size limits, space structures are built in segments with high safety margins and deployed on orbit.
Results: To reduce dependence on Earth-based logistics, a dual-robot automated fiber placement (AFP) system was developed to fabricate thermoplastic composite structures directly in space without tooling. This automated toolless manufacturing (AToM) technology uses coordinated robotic motion to build 3D parts with laser heating in orbit with in-situ consolidation without the need for oven/autoclave.
AuthorJessica Jeffries
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Impact: This eliminates the need to withstand launch loads and joints to fit the structure in payload bay, significantly reducing weight and enabling fabrication per functional design requirements.
From the Expert: “The AToM dual-robotic manufacturing system enables tool-less, in-space fabrication of large, high-performance thermoplastic composite structures, freeing future space platforms from Earth-bound size, weight, and launch-load constraints. By coordinating laser-heated deposition with synchronized consolidation, AToM delivers true 3D continuous-fiber additive manufacturing, dramatically reducing mass, enabling on-orbit assembly, and opening the door to scalable, mission-tailored space habitats and structures.” ~Waruna Seneviratne, Director of ATLAS (Advanced Technologies Lab for Aerospace Systems) at NIAR