SYSTEMS FOR FORMING COMPOSITE PARTS, METHODS OF FORMING COMPOSITE PARTS, AND METHODS OF PRECISELY PERFORMING A PLURALITY OF OPERATIONS ON A COMPOSITE PART

A system (94) for forming composite parts (80) and a method of forming composite parts. The system (94) includes a layup mandrel (200) that includes a mandrel body (210) and a plurality of regions of isotropic surface finish (236). The methods of forming the composite part include positioning a plurality of plies (82) of composite material on a layup mandrel (200), conforming the plurality of plies (82) of composite material to a layup surface shape (212) of the layup mandrel (200), and curing the plurality of plies of composite material (82). The methods of precisely performing the plurality of operations on a composite part allows detecting a corresponding imprinted feature of a plurality of imprinted features, aligning an operating assembly of an end effector relative to the corresponding imprinted feature, and performing a corresponding operation of the plurality of operations on the composite part.A system (94) for forming a composite part (80) with an imprinted feature (88), the system (94)comprising:a layup mandrel (200) that includes:(i)a mandrel body (210) that defines a layup surface (212) that defines a layup surface finish roughness; and(ii)a plurality of regions (236) of isotropic surface finish spaced-apart on the layup surface (212),wherein each region (236) of isotropic surface finish of the plurality of regions (236) of isotropic surface finish defines an isotropic surface finish roughness that is greater than the layup surface finish roughness, and further wherein a location of each region (236) of isotropic surface finish corresponds to a desired location for a fastener hole (86) within the composite part (80