Robotic Dresspack Solution for High-Precision AFPT Thermoplastic Placement and Winding
Demand for lightweight structural parts in new energy vehicles, energy storage and aerospace keeps rising. Manufacturing equipment for lightweight solid rocket motors — built around the new carbon-fibre AFPT process (high-precision laser in-situ consolidated thermoplastic fibre placement and winding) — is coming online fast. The heart of such a line is a heavy-payload six-axis industrial robot, and the power cables, control harnesses and laser lines on the robot body are protected by the dress pack — that “outer skin for the blood vessels”. Once the dress pack fails, the whole line stops.
This article takes the dresspack solution TYSEM supplied for an equipment manufacturer's AFPT line as an example, and explains the selection logic and real operating performance for this kind of duty.
1. Why AFPT equipment places higher demands on a dresspack
This project uses a Comau N-170-3.0 six-axis industrial robot carrying the forming end effector. Compared with common handling and welding duty, this application places four special requirements on the dresspack:
- Heavy payload, long stroke: the N-170-3.0 end effector is heavy and moves through a wide range, with a long three-axis telescopic stroke (maximum horizontal working radius 3000 mm). The dresspack must withstand high-frequency, large-amplitude repeated flexing and extension.
- Power and optical paths in one bundle: the dresspack carries both power cables and laser lines. Without separation, mutual abrasion and electromagnetic interference range from signal jitter to worn-through cables.
- Dust and heat sources together: the forming station has high dust concentration and local heat sources, so the conduit needs dust protection and the material must meet UL94 V-0 flame retardancy (no open flame; extinguishes immediately once the ignition source is removed).
- Continuous high-cycle production: downtime on a lightweight manufacturing line is expensive, so the dresspack must be designed for long-interval, maintenance-free operation.
2. The TYSEM solution: 48+70 dual-hose Series 4 telescopic dresspack
- Dual-hose routing: φ48 and φ70 lines are routed separately — power cables and laser/signal harnesses each keep their own path, eliminating interference and mutual abrasion by design.
- Series 4 telescopic bracket: guides the conduit through the full three-axis long-stroke movement, so it does not derail, sag or tangle during extension, retraction and rotation.
- Laser harness protection: the harness is fixed inside the conduit along its whole length with a controlled bend radius, avoiding kinks that would damage the optical path.
- Dust and fire protection: the overall protection follows general industrial dust-protection practice; the conduit flame-retardant rating meets UL94 V-0. Temperature: heat deflection temperature (0.45 MPa load, ASTM D648) is approximately 175–220 °C (laboratory data), covering local heat sources at the forming station.
- Long-life design: design life 7 years, verified against high-frequency flexing duty; continuous production length of more than 10,000 m (laboratory data).
3. Three years of actual operating performance
Since commissioning on the equipment manufacturer's AFPT line, the solution has run continuously for three years:
- ✅ No unplanned downtime caused by the dresspack;
- ✅ Conduit, telescopic brackets and connectors remain in good condition with no abnormal wear;
- ✅ The customer's line has continued to run at full load, confirming the reliability of the dual-hose telescopic solution under heavy-payload lightweight forming duty.
4. Quick selection table for similar equipment builders
The table below distils TYSEM's engineering experience on this AFPT equipment project and is offered as a reference for similar lightweight equipment manufacturers.
| Working condition | Recommended configuration | Key checks |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy-payload robot, 200 kg class or above | Telescopic-bracket dresspack | Three-axis stroke envelope, bracket strength |
| Power cables routed with laser / signal harnesses | Dual-hose routing | Bend radius, separation and fixing |
| High dust with heat sources | Dust-protected structure + flame-retardant conduit | Dust protection level, material temperature rating |
| Continuous high-cycle production | Long-life maintenance-free design | Flexing-life verification |
5. About TYSEM
Hubei Yanhong Robot Technology Co., Ltd. focuses on the development and manufacture of robotic dresspacks, with six product series covering mainstream robot brands including ABB, KUKA, FANUC, Yaskawa and Comau. Products are widely used in automotive body-in-white, new-energy lithium battery and lightweight manufacturing industries.
