News

Anaglyph exhibited at JEC 2024, building on a tradition of over 20 years of presence at the leading trade show.

On 5-7 March we had the opportunity to showcase PlyMatch, our unique Augmented Reality hand-layup system and unveil its latest Hololens prototype. This sparked great enthusiasm among visitors who had the chance to wear the device and visualise plies projected in virtual space on a mould.

We had the pleasure of also presenting Laminate Tools, LAP and CoDA and discussing how our products can solve the latest challenges faced by existing clients and visitors from the aerospace, automotive, construction, marine and other industries. As part of these exchanges, we received valuable insights and feedback that shapes our pipeline for future improvements. Finally, we had the chance to discuss exciting collaborations with companies tackling similar challenges to ours.

The support of our clients and partners is what inspires us to continue innovating.

We would like to thank NPL for their continued support. We sincerely thank all those who visited our stand and contributed to another great expo at JEC 2024.

An article in Composites in Manufacturing magazine Apr-May 2023 issue describes how Prodrive Composites has been using our PlyMatch technology, in its Fixed variant.

Matt Bradney (Prodrive Composites Director of Business Development) explains:

"We used an augmented reality (AR) system to closely control the manufacturing processes and provide quality assurance on the incredibly complex and detailed hand lay-up of the rotor blades. This greatly reduces the need for laminators to measure or use templates on the job and removes any ambiguity or personal interpretation around the position and orientation of a ply piece."

Prodrive invested in multiple sets of Fixed PlyMatch AR workstations.

Matt Bradney adds:

"The PlyMatch system was an essential tool to deliver aspects of this programme and will be used again in future opportunities though not necessarily in the aerospace domain."

Laminate Tools Version 5.1 builds on the powerful features introduced with v5.0, improves functionality and stability and further enhances the capabilities of this fantastic product. A number of user-driven functions in the Design, Check and Manufacture modules, have been added.

Efficient, speedy response to user actions was further improved, with spectacular effect in some cases.

The user interface has been adapted for use with PlyMatch hardware, as with earlier versions.

A complete list of new features can be found here.

Users on active maintenance can download the new version here.

(image courtesy of XShore Production AB, Sweden)

Version 4.3 is a maintenance update for LAP, addressing third-party interfaces, latest Operating System compatibility requirements, licencing method updates, as well as a significant port to the 64-bit platform.

Existing users of version 4.2 are eligible for a free upgrade. Contact our sales team for more information.

After a long and successful relationship with Anaglyph, Mr Shunichiro Hisada of Kamo Composites retired at the end of 2021.

Anaglyph are pleased to announce that a new agent for Japan has been appointed: TodaRacing Contact: Kouichi Mizukawa Email: k-mizukawa@toda-racing.co.jp - Phone: 0866-83-1202

Anaglyph wish Toda Racing every success and are confident that they will promote and support the Anaglyph software products in the best possible way.

Version 5.0 marks a major milestone for Laminate Tools. Apart from the many visible new important features, a number of fundamental technologies are introduced behind the scenes to improve efficiency and lay the ground for important future changes. In particular:

• The underlying data engine has been redeveloped, so that data storage and manipulation are carried out in ways aligned with current user requirements, for maximum efficiency when applying simulations or collecting information for graphical presentation or export.
• The 3-D model graphics engine has been totally rewritten to support the latest OpenGL standard, taking advantage of state-of-the-art graphics hardware capabilities, and extending product life significantly.
• The Graphical User Interface (GUI) has been thoroughly redesigned. Application windows may now be floating, docked, tabbed, grouped or hidden, delivering a custom screen layout that improves productivity further, while legacy arrangements are possible for a smoother transition.

A comprehensive list of new features can be found here.

Users on active maintenance can download the new version here, and additionally request a licence upgrade by email.

Anaglyph exhibited at the new virtual JEC CONNECT show on 1-2 June 2021. After the first shock of lockdown, we all had to adapt to new ways to do business, and new ways to communicate. We missed JEC Composites 2020, we missed the physical JEC Composites 2021. This year, our virtual booth concentrated on latest developments with Laminate Tools and PlyMatch.

The show was exciting, with a great conference program and many exhibitors. We met prospects by Video chat and discussed future needs.

Laminate Tools Version 4.10 delivers important user-driven features in the Design, Analysis, Check and Manufacture modules, as well as in the User Interface.

Considerable effort has been devoted to speeding up and enriching important functionalities that can save design time and build a better structural component. Attention has been paid to improving and extending interfaces to third-party partner products, in both CAD and FEA domains.

We continue to offer unparalleled value for money in this fantastic product, especially important at a time of uncertainty and difficult choices in all industries. A complete list of new features can be found here…

Users on active maintenance can download the new version here.

We are delighted to announce that the 3 winners of FSAE Italia 2019 (Formula Society of Automotive Engineers) event in Varano de’ Melegari, in the main categories are all Laminate Tools users. It is worth noting that they had all attended our Italian agent SmartCAE's course on composites design and planning.

• Category Combustion: Dynamis PRC Politecnico di Milano
• Category Electric: Squadra Corse Politecnico di Torino
• Category Driverless: Sapienza Corse Roma.

Congratulations to them!

The official FSAE Italy 2019 results can be found here.

You can read more about this competition in Gazzetta dello Sport.

An article in the last issue of Composites in Manufacturing, Augmented Reality improves ply lay-up, by Lou Reade, features our PlyMatch technology, a visual control system that helps the operator position plies more accurately onto a tool - including their fibre orientation.

"This is particularly useful for highly curved parts, as operators need to know where the fibres are meant to go … it helps to make the process more repeatable – overcoming factors such as different operators making the same part … Because the work is captured on camera, it means that recordings of each operation can be made. This is a useful feature for quality control purposes. Often, lay-up is carried out by a sub-contractor. A recording of the process – in which the creation of each part is carefully documented – acts as ‘proof’ that a job has been done properly. It records not just the operator laying the plies, but the augmented reality overlays – to ensure that the correct instructions were followed."

Composites in Manufacturing, June 2019.

Read the full article here or Read the Full Magazine here

Laminate Tools Version 4.9 delivers a number of user-requested new features in the Design, Analysis, Check and Manufacture modules.

Ply and Element Set pools enable much better interactive management of data. A review of mirroring for existing and new objects now gives faster results. Basic geometric entities can be created and used in ply design. Numerous additions to the post-processing functionality ensure once again that Laminate Tools offers unparalleled value for money with innovative features and great technical support. A complete list of new functions can be found here…

Users on active maintenance can download the new version here.

The October issue of CompositesWorld Magazine features an article on Advancing composites through virtual and augmented reality, by Karen Mason. It includes a testimonial of Eric Wightman, director of structures and advanced materials, at Systima Technologies, Kirkland, WA, manufacturers of energetic systems and components primarily for defense and space applications.

At Systima, PlyMatch is used for manufacturing a nose cone developed for a hypersonic application. It is about 175 cm long with a diameter of about 63 cm. It is laid up in two halves, using a female mold.

"Using PlyMatch, manufacturing the nose cone and similar components has proven efficient and straightforward … When the composites staff is ready to build a component, an operator performs PlyMatch’s initial calibration and is ready to begin layup in less than 5 minutes."

"In hypersonic programs, it is imperative to get it right. Raw materials alone may be worth US$30,000 per nose cone, and there may be 1,700 pieces in one ply kit."

Read the article --- Read or download the full magazine.

Laminate Tools Version 4.8 introduces a substantial number of new features in the Design, Analysis, Check and Manufacture modules.

A new option for ply Forming will address a longstanding user request. A new mesher for CAD import delivers better and faster results. Functions to manipulate the mesh, plies and layup have been improved. Across the board, modules have been enriched with features based almost exclusively on user input, enabling us to offer unparalleled value for money in this fantastic product. A complete list of new features can be found here…

Users on active maintenance can download the new version here.

The latest version of Altair HyperMesh 2017 includes the long awaited integration with Laminate Tools.

This new interface will be very useful to HyperMesh users, as it allows access to the Laminate Tools draping simulation from inside the HyperMesh environment, for accurate property tables as well as easy export of the finalized ply configuration to Laminate Tools, for later post processing and ready for manufacturing data creation.

Laminate Tools Version 4.7 brings a number of enhancements to the FEA and CAD interfaces and adds exciting new features in the Design, Check and Manufacture modules.

Most file interface implementations have been revised from the ground up for significant future gains, dynamic complex real/imaginary results are supported, failure envelopes are plotted, the interface has several user enhancements, the Manufacturing output is further enriched, and more…

Users on active maintenance can download the new version here.

The Drexel University Hyperloop Team was one of 31 selected from over 1,700 designs to build, test, and present their design in the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod competition. The Hyperloop system, as imagined by Elon Musk, will allow people to travel at 700-plus miles an hour in pressurized capsules that levitate above a small pocket of air in a reduced-pressure tube. The challenge was to build an efficient, sustainable, fifth method of transportation that relies solely on renewable energy as its power source. Laminate Tools was Drexel Uni's choice design and manufacturing tool.

Nestor Castaneda, from Drexel Hyperloop Team says:

" Thank you so much Anaglyph for your support. I found the software's capabilities great! We used Laminate Tools to generate the flat patterns for the layup process, which helped us immensely in efficiently manufacturing the carbon fiber shell … Not only does this ensure a seamless manufacturing process, but also saves you time in case later on you need to get a teammate inside the pod to drill some holes.…"

More in Drexel Hyperloop Blog, Feb 2017

As part of a multi-stop tour of various businesses in Central Indiana, USA, the Indianapolis National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), along with several key personnel from Naval Surface Warfare Center(NSWC)- Crane, visited ACE (Applied Composites Engineering) this summer. The purpose of the tour was to provide insight and highlight some of the work going on in Indianapolis and surrounding communities at facilities who provide services to support US security and the warfighter. ACE was happy to demonstrate some of the advanced composite work going on.

ACE President & Founder Leigh Sargent describes the PlyMatch technology to Captain Jeffrey “JT” Elder, Commanding Officer of NSWC Crane, and others during a tour of ACE on 29 June 2015. He shows how ACE uses PlyMatch ply placement technology "to speed layup of complex-shaped parts and eliminate costly secondary assembly and bonding."

ACE (Applied Composites Engineering) news, June 2015

Sara Black, CW's Technical Editor, put together a very interesting Feature on laser projection, including PlyMatch™ in a "Camera-based ply placement" special insert

"Although it is not based on laser projection, Anaglyph’s (London, UK)camera-based PlyMatch system serves the same purposes as today’s other ply-placement systems: to aid ply layup and part assembly and provide the additional benefts of tracking and validating process steps… Each ply is always shown correctly in relation to the mold, even as the mold or camera is moved.This flexibility makes PlyMatch a good tool for complex, curved and deep-draw molds, like that shown above, where laser projection has difficulty.This system gives visual access even when the structure has deep cavities…"

CompositesWorld Magazine, May 2015

Read the full article here, with Camera-based ply placement insert at the end.

"Applied Composites Engineering (ACE, Indianapolis, Ind.) is manufacturing a heated inlet, part of a proprietary antiicing system designed by Cox & Co. (Plainview, N.Y.) for AgustaWestland’s (Cascina Costa di Samarate, Italy) new twin-engine, medium-lift AW189 helicopter…"

High Performance Composites magazine, September 2014, Page 82

Read the full article here.

ACE, Applied Composites Engineering, the Indianapolis based aerospace manufacturer, is using PlyMatch to produce heated inlets for Cox & Company's latest helicopter.

The complex-shaped inlet goes on the AW189, a new 8 tonne class, multi-role helicopter.

PlyMatch is used to manufacture this complex geometry inlet, eliminating the need for costly secondary assembly and bonding.

One of the first users of PlyMatch in aerospace, ACE has now acquired a number of extra PlyMatch units as their tool of choice to assembling complex composite parts including cavities or highly curved.

ACE Quarterly Newsletter, Dec 2013.

"Speed and accuracy: …essential manufacturing parameters in the F1 sector. Read how the Marussia F1 Team have chosen to use Anaglyph products to design and manufacture their car."

In an interview, Chief Designer John McQuilliam comments:

"Laminate Tools allows us to accurately define a laminate with each ply boundary fully defined within the 3D CAD environment as it will be in the real component… The PlyMatch system removes interpretation from the manufacturing process, thus improving the repeatability of component weight, stiffness and strength."

JEC Magazine Special JEC Europe 2013 issue No79 p.21-22

Read the full article here.

The technology inside a modern Formula One car more resembles that of a modern fighter jet than of the cars we drive to go to work. Research never comes to an end and, typically, during the course of an F1 season lap times can improve in excess of 1.5 seconds.

Steve Diamond, Deputy Head of Stress Department for Lotus F1 Team, explains:

"At Lotus F1 all our engineers constantly strive to improve the performance of the car. In the Stress Department our focus is not solely on providing lightweight structures capable of contending with the ever increasing loads due to the relentless aerodynamic development but we must also provide sufficiently stiff structures to improve vehicle handling… To this end, our engineers are required to make many design iterations within the tight deadlines available in order to arrive at an optimized solution".

Despite operating much closer to their structural limits than their aerospace counterparts, Formula One cars are today very safe vehicles to drive thanks to the advanced tools available to the group of engineers that form the Stress Analysis Department at Lotus F1 Team.

Steve Diamond continues:

"After evaluating Anaglyph's Laminate Tools, we have now adopted this package as our primary tool in the Stress based ply definition of our chassis laminate and structurally critical composite components. This software has dramatically reduced laminate analysis turnaround times whilst providing a more optimized FEA process within the demanding timescales and allows for more detailed results interrogation with ease. Together with Anaglyph's excellent customer support the transition to Laminate Tools has been seamless, as well as being fully compatible for bi-directional data exchange with our other established composites design tools".

Building on the experience with the SolidWorks - Laminate Tools interface, a plug-in for the popular Rhinoceros 3D CAD application has been developed by Anaglyph Ltd. It allows Rhino users to create draped plies and a basic layup from within Rhino, accessing Laminate Tools remotely.

A similar interface for Femap has also been developed by our Italian partners SmartCAE. This is available directly by the developers.

The new LAP version 4.2 introduces user-requested features, such as transverse stress calculation, z-offsets for mechanical loads, and strain-based strength definition.

We were very pleased to exhibit at the Long Beach event, jointly with our USA agents, ACE Inc. New, exciting opportunities will be explored through the numerous new contacts made.

The upgraded PlyMatch™ system attracted considerable and genuine interest (first time it was publicly shown on US soil), and the latest version of Laminate Tools was a welcome discovery to several visitors.

Many thanks to all visitors and partners.

Cervélo's Vroomen White Design group combined analysis and manufacturing acumen to create a 675g/1.5 lb composite frame, the lightest pro racing frame available today. Read how Laminate Tools helped them achieve this remarkable goal in the full article, in February's issue of Composites Technology Magazine

The PlyMatch system has been upgraded in a number of ways, rendering it more powerful while reducing its cost for yet better value for money.

A new integrated camera probe has been designed with four-face tracking, offering much improved functionality and robustness in complex operations. The probe itself can also be used for simple tactile measurements such as for tool calibration, removing the need for additional hardware.

In addition, the control unit and software are now more versatile by allowing multiple connected probes for a number of alternative configurations.

Nemo Engineering AS have confirmed the value of Laminate Tools in a demanding Ansys design environment and have increased the number of Laminate Tools licences held at their facility at Lysaker, Norway. According to Kjetil Antonsen

"By using Laminate Tools as a pre- and post-processor to Ansys we have reduced the analysis time significantly for our products. Problem areas are quickly identified while the number of FE solving processes can be reduced to a minimum. Laminate Tools enables us to deliver Protection Covers for subsea applications with very short lead time".

The screen shot shows an example non-standard shape cover in Laminate Tools. Most often these covers are tailor-made to fit the items they are designed to protect. The loading for the covers are various lifting and upending configurations, impact (up to 350 kJ), trawl loads from fishing equipment and various project specific loads.

Nemo Engineering have engineered and delivered approximately 2500 metric tonnes of these protection covers for the last 10-12 years.

The Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola B08/80 LMP2 Coupe car competes in the LMES in Europe and raced at the Le Mans 24hr race in June. It recently finished 2nd in class on its debut race at Barcelona which far exceeded all expectations at this early stage of the car's development.

The chassis is also used by Charouz Racing in the LMP1 category (known as a Lola B08/60 LMP1 Coupe), this car is powered by Aston Martin. This car also ran well in Barcelona, finishing in 3rd place overall and in class, again far exceeding all expectations.

The screen shot of the chassis shows Laminate Tools being used to define the full composite ply layup and then create property cards for use in Altair Hypermesh. Laminate Tools was also used for all FEA post-processing.

Pictures courtesy of John Brooks and Lola Cars International Ltd

We are pleased to announce the commercial availability of our innovative solution for accurately and correctly placing plies in hand-layup manufacture.

The PlyMatch™ system is precise, simple to use and is fully portable.

Sincere thanks to the LDA (London Development Agency) for their Award to Anaglyph's Ply Placement Visual Aid System project, as one of the most innovative of 2006/07.

In the photo, Anaglyph's MD Dr George Kretsis is receiving the award from Lord Winston and LDA's Rebecca Shepheard.

The outcome of the project, the new PlyMatch™ technology, is now commercially available.

Anaglyph are sponsoring the team from Michigan State University for this year's Formula Racing competition, and our Laminate Tools software will be used in the design of the racing car that will represent the team.

Adam Zemke, Operations Consultant for the team, said:

"In the exceedingly competitive realm of Formula SAE, composite structures are vital to a team's success. Each team is given the task of designing, manufacturing, validating, and racing a new car annually. Laminate Tools will enable our team to be confident in the validation of our composites, thus lowering the time and cost involved in production. The composite visualization technology offered by Laminate Tools will enable quality manufacturing, giving Michigan State University a competitive edge."

Version 3.1 was yet another significant move forward for Laminate Tools. Support for the native Ansys input and output file formats has been added (Feb 2006), but also overall functionality has been significantly improved with features such as sub-layup definitions.

With the optional aid of a CAD system, or of a supported Finite Element Analysis package, numerous tasks can be achieved that address the design, analysis and manufacture stages of composite product design.

Full details in the LT product pages.