Loop
Lace
MaterialsCarbon fibre AFO: higher performance, automated production
A continuous carbon fibre ankle-foot orthosis (AFO), designed with LACE and produced with LOOP in an automated, repeatable process.
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The challenge
An ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) has to support the ankle and foot, be stiff where needed and flexible where the gait requires it, and stay light for someone who wears it all day. Traditional carbon AFOs are made by hand lamination: ply after ply, the result depends on the technician's skill, fibre orientation is only partly controlled, and no two parts are ever identical. The goal was to increase mechanical performance over the traditional orthosis and move production towards automation.
The solution
Using LACE, Spherecube's proprietary software that turns a 3D model into fibre paths and the machine program for LOOP, we designed continuous carbon fibre paths that follow the bending loads of the orthosis. The fibre runs without interruption from the footplate, around the ankle curve and up the posterior strut, exactly where hand lamination struggles to guarantee continuity. LOOP, our 6-axis system, laid the fibre onto the mould following its three-dimensional geometry, with no hand lamination. The result is an AFO that outperforms the traditional one, produced in an automated, repeatable way. The fully digital workflow also lends itself to custom-made orthoses.
Do you make orthoses or composite devices? A feasibility study takes 10 working days.
Request a feasibility study