To make automobiles ever lighter and consume less plastic and fuel, the industry is increasingly opting for carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP). The young German company Cevotec has developed a process by the name of Fiber Patch Placement (FPP) to create the shapes required, in which three-dimensional positive or negative molds are covered with carbon fiber strips, so-called patches. Since the fiber direction of the patches can be adapted precisely to match the loads to which a component is exposed, rigidity and strength can be increased significantly and weight can be reduced at the same time.

Cevotec has now taken a further step by launching Artist Studio , a new software package that calculates the optimal positioning and overlap of the patches and has interfaces providing a connection to standard FEM ( Finite Element Method ) programs. This not only ensures even quality of the laminate, but there is also no waste of the expensive carbon fiber strips, which with standard methods can be as high as 50%. When the software is combined with the fully automated Samba Pro production system, two robots are also used to stick the patches cut by laser precisely in the position required.