Swarm 3D printing

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Swarm 3D printing or cooperative 3D printing or swarm manufacturing [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] is a digital manufacturing platform that employs a swarm of mobile robots with different functionalities to work together to print and assemble products based on digital designs. A digital design is first divided into smaller chunks and components based on its geometry and functions, which are then assigned to different specialized robots for printing and assembly in parallel and in sequence based on the dependency of the tasks. [11] [12] The robots typically move freely on an open factory floor, or through the air, and could carry different tool heads. Some common tool heads include material deposition tool heads (e.g., filament extruder, inkjet printhead), pick and place tool head for embedding of pre-manufactured components, laser cutter, welding tool, etc. In some cases, operations are managed by artificial intelligence algorithms, increasingly prevalent with larger swarms or more complex robots, which require elements of autonomy to work together effectively. While in its early stage of development, swarm 3D printing is currently being commercialized by startup companies. According to Additive Manufacturing Magazine, [1] AMBOTS [13] is credited with creating the first end-to-end solution for cooperative 3D printing. Using the Rapid Induction Printing metal additive manufacturing process, Rosotics [14] was the first company to demonstrate swarm 3D printing using a metallic payload, and the only to achieve metallic 3D printing from an airborne platform. [15]

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Swarm robotics

Swarm robotics is an approach to the coordination of multiple robots as a system which consist of large numbers of mostly simple physical robots. It is supposed that a desired collective behavior emerges from the interactions between the robots and interactions of robots with the environment. This approach emerged on the field of artificial swarm intelligence, as well as the biological studies of insects, ants and other fields in nature, where swarm behaviour occurs.

3D printing Additive process used to make a three-dimensional object

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. The term "3D printing" can refer to a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer control to create a three-dimensional object, with material being added together, typically layer by layer.

RepRap project

The RepRap project started in England in 2005 as a University of Bath initiative to develop a low-cost 3D printer that can print most of its own components, but it is now made up of hundreds of collaborators worldwide. RepRap is short for replicatingrapid prototyper.

3D Systems

3D Systems, headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina, is a company that engineers, manufactures and sells 3D printers, 3D printing materials, 3D scanners, and offers a 3D printing service. Chuck Hull, the CTO and former president, pioneered stereolithography and obtained a patent for the technology in 1986. The company creates product concept models, precision and functional prototypes, master patterns for tooling, as well as production parts for direct digital manufacturing. It uses proprietary processes to fabricate physical objects using input from computer-aided design and manufacturing software, or 3D scanning and 3D sculpting devices.

Behrokh Khoshnevis is the President and CEO of Contour Crafting Corporation and the Louise L. Dunn Distinguished Professor of Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC), where he has affiliations with the Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, Astronautics Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering and Industrial & Systems Engineering departments. He is the Director of the Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies (CRAFT) at USC. He is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow Member of the National Academy of Inventors and is a Fellow of the American Society for the Advancement of Science. He is also a Fellow member of the Society for Computer Simulation International, a Fellow member of the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineering and a Fellow member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He is also a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Fellow.

Digital modeling and fabrication is a design and production process that combines 3D modeling or computing-aided design (CAD) with additive and subtractive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing is also known as 3D printing, while subtractive manufacturing may also be referred to as machining, and many other technologies can be exploited to physically produce the designed objects.

The Guidance, Control and Decision Systems Laboratory (GCDSL) is situated in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. The Mobile Robotics Laboratory (MRL) is its experimental division. They are headed by Dr. Debasish Ghose, Full Professor.

MakerBot American desktop 3D printer manufacturer company

MakerBot Industries, LLC is an American desktop 3D printer manufacturer company headquartered in New York City. It was founded in January 2009 by Bre Pettis, Adam Mayer, and Zach "Hoeken" Smith to build on the early progress of the RepRap Project. It was acquired by Stratasys in June 2013. As of April 2016, MakerBot has sold over 100,000 desktop 3D printers worldwide. Since 2009, the company has released 6 generations of 3D printers, with the latest being the Replicator+ and Replicator Mini+. It was the leader of the desktop market with an important presence in the media but its market share is in decline. MakerBot also founded and operates Thingiverse, the largest online 3D printing community and file repository.

Selective laser melting 3D printing technique

Selective laser melting (SLM) is one of many proprietary names for a metal additive manufacturing technology that uses a bed of powder with a source of heat to create metal parts. Also known as direct metal laser melting (DMLM), the ASTM standard term is powder bed fusion (PBF). PBF is a rapid prototyping, 3D printing, or additive manufacturing (AM) technique designed to use a high power-density laser to melt and fuse metallic powders together.

Robotnik Automation Spanish technology company

Robotnik Automation S.L.L. is a Spanish company that specializes in robot product development and robotics R&D projects. Robotnik is based in Valencia (Paterna) in Spain.

Construction 3D Printing (c3Dp) or 3D construction Printing (3DCP) refers to various technologies that use 3D printing as a core method to fabricate buildings or construction components. Alternative terms are also in use, such as additive construction, Autonomous Robotic Construction System (ARCS), Large scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM), or Freeform construction (FC), also to refer to sub-groups, such as '3D Concrete', used to refer to concrete extrusion technologies. There are a variety of 3D printing methods used at construction scale, with the main ones being extrusion, powder bonding, and additive welding. 3D printing at a construction scale will have a wide variety of applications within the private, commercial, industrial and public sectors. Potential advantages of these automation technologies include faster construction, lower costs, ease of construction, enabling DIY construction, increased complexity and/or accuracy, greater integration of function, and less waste produced.

Fused filament fabrication 3D printing process

Fused filament fabrication (FFF), also known as fused deposition modeling, or called filament freeform fabrication, is a 3D printing process that uses a continuous filament of a thermoplastic material. Filament is fed from a large spool through a moving, heated printer extruder head, and is deposited on the growing work. The print head is moved under computer control to define the printed shape. Usually the head moves in two dimensions to deposit one horizontal plane, or layer, at a time; the work or the print head is then moved vertically by a small amount to begin a new layer. The speed of the extruder head may also be controlled to stop and start deposition and form an interrupted plane without stringing or dribbling between sections. "Fused filament fabrication" was coined by the members of the RepRap project to give an acronym (FFF) that would be legally unconstrained in its use.

EnvisionTEC

EnvisionTEC is a privately held global company that develops, manufactures and sells more than 40 configurations of desktop and production 3D printers based on seven several distinct process technologies that build objects from digital design files. Founded in 2002, the company now has a corporate headquarters for North America, located in Dearborn, Mich., and International headquarters in Gladbeck, Germany. It also has a production facility in the Greater Los Angeles area, as well as additional facilities in Montreal, for materials research, in Kiev, Ukraine, for software development, and in Woburn, Mass, for robotic 3D printing research and development. Today, the company's 3D Printers are used for mass customized production and to manufacture finished goods, investment casting patterns, tooling, prototypes and more. EnvisionTEC serves a variety of medical, professional and industrial customers. EnvisionTEC has developed large customer niches in the jewelry, dental, hearing aid, medical device, biofabrication and animation industries. EnvisionTEC is one of the few 3D printer companies globally whose products are being used for real production of final end-use parts.

Avi Reichental is an Israeli-American businessperson in the 3D printing industry. He is the founder and executive chairman of XponentialWorks, a venture investment, advisory and product development company. Reichental serves as CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder of Nexa3D and Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of NXT Factory, Centaur Analytics and ParaMatters.

Digital manufacturing is an integrated approach to manufacturing that is centered around a computer system. The transition to digital manufacturing has become more popular with the rise in the quantity and quality of computer systems in manufacturing plants. As more automated tools have become used in manufacturing plants it has become necessary to model, simulate, and analyze all of the machines, tooling, and input materials in order to optimize the manufacturing process. Overall, digital manufacturing can be seen sharing the same goals as computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), flexible manufacturing, lean manufacturing, and design for manufacturability (DFM). The main difference is that digital manufacturing was evolved for use in the computerized world.

Swarm robotic platforms apply swarm robotics in multi-robot collaboration. They take inspiration from nature. The main goal is to control a large number of robots to accomplish a common task/problem. Hardware limitation and cost of robot platforms limit current research in swarm robotics to mostly performed by simulation software. On the other hand, simulation of swarm scenarios that needs large numbers of agents is extremely complex and often inaccurate due to poor modelling of external conditions and limitation of computation.

Applications of 3D printing

In recent years, 3D printing has developed significantly and can now perform crucial roles in many applications, with the most important being manufacturing, medicine, architecture, custom art and design.

3D printing processes List of 3D printing processes

A variety of processes, equipment, and materials are used in the production of a three-dimensional object via additive manufacturing. 3D printing is also known as additive manufacturing, therefore the numerous available 3D printing process tend to be additive in nature with a few key differences in the technologies and the materials used in this process.

Cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM) is a particular application of cold spraying, able to fabricate freestanding parts or to build features on existing components. During the process, fine powder particles are accelerated in a high-velocity compressed gas stream, and upon the impact on a substrate or backing plate, deform and bond together creating a layer. Moving the nozzle over a substrate repeatedly, a deposit is building up layer-by-layer, to form a part or component. If an industrial robot or computer controlled manipulator controls the spray gun movements, complex shapes can be created. To achieve 3D shape, there are two different approaches. First to fix the substrate and move the cold spray gun/nozzle using a robotic arm, the second one is to move the substrate with a robotic arm, and keep the spray-gun nozzle fixed. There is also a possibility to combine these two approaches either using two robotic arms or other manipulators. The process always requires a substrate and uses only powder as raw material.

Frank Götzke German automotive engineer

Frank Götzke is a German engineer and technology manager. His creations include the Bugatti Veyron, Bugatti Chiron and Bugatti Bolide. He is also well known for his metallic 3D printing creations. He is considered to be a pioneer in the field of carbon-fiber-reinforced structural and functional parts, which are manufactured with resin infiltration processes. Götzke has been a member of the Volkswagen Group since 1995, and he has worked for its super car brand Bugatti since 2001.

References

  1. 1 2 "Robots, Assemble! A New Path to Autonomous Mobile 3D Printing". www.additivemanufacturing.media.
  2. ↑ "The 5 Coolest Things On Earth This Week | GE News". www.ge.com.
  3. ↑ O'Neal, Bridget (2 March 2019). "University of Arkansas: Research Group Delegates 3D Printing Duties to Their Swarm of Robots".
  4. ↑ Ackerman, Evan (28 August 2018). "Mobile Robots Cooperate to 3D Print Large Structures". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News.
  5. ↑ "3D-printing swarm robots pave the way for new construction possibilities". 9 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "What's next? Swarm 3D printing, i.e., synchronized 3D printing - Make Parts Fast". www.makepartsfast.com.
  7. ↑ "Siemens Contemplating "Swarm" 3D Printing?". Fabbaloo.
  8. ↑ Oxman, Neri, Jorge Duro‐Royo, Steven Keating, Ben Peters, and Elizabeth Tsai. "Towards robotic swarm printing." Architectural Design 84, no. 3 (2014): 108-115.
  9. ↑ Murphy, Mike. "Siemens is building a swarm of robot spiders to 3D-print objects together". Quartz.
  10. ↑ "AMBOTS Brings Autonomous Collaboration to Manufacturing". All3DP. 27 March 2019.
  11. ↑ "The Chunker "chunk-based slicer" proposed for cobot 3D printing". 3D Printing Industry. 16 October 2018.
  12. ↑ Saunders, Sarah (21 December 2018). "Thesis Focuses on Using Cooperative 3D Printing with Robots to Improve the Technology's Scalability".
  13. ↑ "AMBOTS". www.ambots.net.
  14. ↑ "Rosotics - Solving Industry's Largest Problems". Rosotics.
  15. ↑ "Technology". 25 July 2020.
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