A passive tensioning system for composite material dispensed by a composite placement machine in which material on a spool mounted on a spool shaft is pulled off over a dancer roll and applied to a surface , the passive tensioning system comprising: - the spool shaft ; - a drag brake on the spool shaft ; - a drag brake control for the drag brake ; - the dancer roll mounted on a linear slide having a spring force; characterized by - a control for varying the force for the linear slide ; - a pneumatic cylinder coupled to the linear slide for adjusting the dancer roll spring force by varying a pressure in the pneumatic cylinder such that the dancer roll acts like an adjustable spring; and, - a control system for continually varying the drag brake control and the slide control to control the tension of the composite material based on the instantaneous operating characteristics of the composite placement machine; wherein the dancer roll is capable of being pushed to the top of the linear slide before dispensing of composite material occurs, whereby the dancer roll has a maximum range of travel on the linear slide as composite material is paid out; and, wherein the pressure in the pneumatic cylinder is capable of being changed in order to compensate for a gravity vector force change seen by the dancer roll due to repositioning the dancer roll relative to gravity, whereby the passive tensioning system is able to operate in all orientations. - the spool shaft ; - a drag brake on the spool shaft ; - a drag brake control for the drag brake ; - the dancer roll mounted on a linear slide having a spring force; characterized by - a control for varying the force for the linear slide ; - a pneumatic cylinder coupled to the linear slide for adjusting the dancer roll spring force by varying a pressure in the pneumatic cylinder such that the dancer roll acts like an adjustable spring; and, - a control system for continually varying the drag brake control and the slide control to control the tension of the composite material based on the instantaneous operating characteristics of the composite placement machine; wherein the dancer roll is capable of being pushed to the top of the linear slide before dispensing of composite material occurs, whereby the dancer roll has a maximum range of travel on the linear slide as composite material is paid out; and, wherein the pressure in the pneumatic cylinder is capable of being changed in order to compensate for a gravity vector force change seen by the dancer roll due to repositioning the dancer roll relative to gravity, whereby the passive tensioning system is able to operate in all orientations. wherein the dancer roll is capable of being pushed to the top of the linear slide before dispensing of composite material occurs, whereby the dancer roll has a maximum range of travel on the linear slide as composite material is paid out; and, wherein the pressure in the pneumatic cylinder is capable of being changed in order to compensate for a gravity vector force change seen by the dancer roll due to repositioning the dancer roll relative to gravity, whereby the passive tensioning system is able to operate in all orientations. <EOS>