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91 These pre-formed composites are then assembled in a high-speed process. There are two steps to the assembly – bringing all the parts together in a mould and then using pressure and temperature to fuse them together. Any kind of method can be used to make the moulds, from CNC machining to 3D printing. This enables shapes that are not currently possible, for example an 8 ft-long marine hull with continuous fibres running from tip to tip with zig- zag shapes and supporting different mechanical requirements in each region, and combining carbon fibre and fibreglass in a single, homogenous part. A lot of the work on materials such as thermoplastics has already been done by the composites industry, using many of the same methods and process they have pioneered, but Additive Moulding adds a higher degree of complexity in different shapes. The thermoplastics are thermally cured, which requires pressure and temperature, and varies depending on the material. A thermoplastic can set in a few minutes, while a polycarbonate for UAVs has to be heated to 150-200 C. Structural aerospace parts have to reach over 400 C, while parts for satellites need a low off-gassing environment, so need to be cured in a vacuum. As the final assembly is in a mould, more pressure can be applied than with a plastic AM process. Conclusion New techniques and approaches to existing AM techniques are being investigated to speed up the process of delivering production components. From automated SLS through binder jetting to complex composite structures, the options for building unmanned systems are expanding. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Jonah Myerberg at Desktop Metal, Ethan Escowitz at Arris Composites, Emre Kilic at GKN Additive, Phil Reeves at Reeves Insight, Franco Cevolini at CRP Technology and Ivan Stamatovski at Easy Aerial for their help with researching this article. Unmanned Systems Technology | February/March 2021 Progressive Technology +44 1635 500480 www.progressive-tecnology.co.uk Renishaw +44 1785 285000 www.renishaw.com Ricoh 3D +44 7392 160210 www.rapidfab.ricoh-europe.com Smith’s High Performance +44 1767 604708 www.smithshp.com SHD Composites +44 1529 307629 www.shdcompostites.com USA Arris Composites +1 510 730 0067 www.arriscomposites.com 3D Systems +1 803 326 3930 www.3dsystems.com Airwolf 3D +1 949 478 2933 www.airwolf3d.com Desktop Metal +1 978 224 1244 www.desktopmetal.com ExOne +1 724 863 9663 www.exone.com Form Labs +1 617 702 8476 www.formlabs.com GE Additive +1 513 733 1611 www.ge.com HP Enterprises +1 877 468 8369 www8.hp.com Incodema +1 607 227 7070 www.incodema.com Markforged +1 617 668 1935 www.markforged.com Oerlikon +1 248 288 1200 www.oerlikon.com/am Poly-Shape +1 610 927 7294 www.poly-shape.com Protolabs +1 877 479 3680 www.protolabs.com Questek +1 847 328 5800 www.questek.com Solvay +1 770 772 8451 www.solvay.com Stratasys +1 952 937 3000 www.stratasys.com Velo3D   +1 408 610 3915 www.velo3D.com Vetted Tech +1 315 802 6505 www.vetted3d.com Xact Metal +1 814 205 1505 www.xactmetal.com Xerox +1 866 460 2248 www.xerox.com