The main goal of the SMARTCOMPOSITE project is to prove that, with the current technological and computational capabilities, the designer can conceive and optimise structures of complex shape, made of VS composites and which can be manufactured through the available AFP process. To attain this ambitious goal it is necessary of: a) understanding the potential as well as the main technological restrictions linked to the AFP process; b) formulating the design problem in the most general way by abandoning the classical simplifying hypotheses and rules; c) developing a general multi-scale optimisation strategy able to take into account, since the early stages of the design process, the manufacturability constraints linked to the fabrication technique; d) validating the entire design process trough experimental tests that will allow for characterising the mechanical behaviour of this new class of composite materials and of evaluating their strength and damage tolerance capabilities.he main goal of the SMARTCOMPOSITE project is to prove that, with the current technological and computational capabilities, the designer can conceive and optimise structures of complex shape, made of VS composites and which can be manufactured through the available AFP process. To attain this ambitious goal it is necessary of: a) understanding the potential as well as the main technological restrictions linked to the AFP process; b) formulating the design problem in the most general way by abandoning the classical simplifying hypotheses and rules; c) developing a general multi-scale optimisation strategy able to take into account, since the early stages of the design process, the manufacturability constraints linked to the fabrication technique; d) validating the entire design process trough experimental tests that will allow for characterising the mechanical behaviour of this new class of composite materials and of evaluating their strength and damage tolerance capabilities.