Robotic Additive Manufacturing Systems for Composite Fixed‑Wing Drones

The goal of this study is to develop a robotic additive manufacturing platform for continuous fibre‑reinforced composites aimed at fabricating fixed‑wing drone components. The system combines a dual‑extrusion print‑head with a fibre‑cutting module, controlled through a customised RoboDK framework. Process optimization of heating temperature, printing speed and feed rates increases fibre volume fraction, lowers interlayer porosity, and improves bead thickness, width uniformity and surface finish. To accommodate complex geometries, an adaptive curved‑surface slicing algorithm outputs multi‑axis G‑code. The capability is demonstrated by producing some key drone structures, which are validated under ASTM D3039 & ASTM D7264. The results will confirm the platform’s potential to deliver high‑quality, lightweight composite parts with the geometric freedom and mechanical performance demanded by next‑generation fixed‑wing drones.