Navy looks for desktop manufacturing of micro-robot swarm and a lot more. Navy technology solicitations Desktop Manufacturing with Micro-robot Swarm Develop a swarm of micro-robotic fabrication machines that will enable the manufacture of new materials and components. Address the major technical issues in developing these micro-robotic machines, the platform hardware, and the architecture for their communication and control. A micro-robot swarm should be able to perform material synthesis and component assembly, concurrently.
The micro-robots could be designed to perform basic operations such as pick and place, dispense liquids, print inks, remove material, join components, etc. These micro-robots should be able to move cooperatively within a workspace to achieve highly efficient synthesis and assembly. This behavior should be programmable, in particular, the micro-robotic behavior should be more adaptive as the ability for real-time in-situ sensing increases. PHASE I: Develop proof-of-concept for manufacturing with distributed micro-robot swarm. XT09-SI-NA Digi International Outils de développement et modules WiFi / 802.11. The rise of additive manufacturing | In-depth. 24 May 2010 | By Jon Excell, Stuart Nathan Additive processes mean that complex components can be made in one shot Artfully designed consumer products represent one of the biggest markets for additive processes A380 landing-gear section Additive manufacturing is a world away from the traditional image of manufacturing Factory of the future: Additive layer manufacturing is a world away from traditional processes Complex metal components Today most hearing aid outer casings are manufactured additively Previous thumbnailsNext thumbnails Dream machines: Systems capable of printing functional components are poised to enter the manufacturing mainstream Prof Richard Hague’s desk is littered with a curious smorgasbord of objects: a tiny model jet engine, a diesel-fuel pump housing, a chain-mail vest with a zip down the back, a football shin pad and a tiny skeletal hand.
Able to build models of mind-boggling geometrical complexity from scratch, they dispense with tooling costs. What’s next. Fabrication d'objets par ordinateur: imprimante 3D et nanofabriques. Concevoir un objet en 3D, puis le faire fabriquer par son ordinateur à la maison? Ce n'est pas encore donné, mais pour 14 900 dollars vous pouvez vous payer l'imprimante 3DSystems inVision LD, capable de fabriquer un objet réel (en plastique) de dimensions maximum 160 x 210 x 135 mm.
L'imprimante 3D fabrique la forme souhaitée en collant de multiples couches de thermoplastiques. L'objet peut ensuite être percé, poncé et peint. Vu le prix ce n'est pas encore pour le fun (dommage) mais pour les domaines dans lesquels une modélisation est souvent nécessaire: aéronautique, design, architecture, etc.
Pour aller encore plus loin, InternetActu.net introduit le concept des nanofabriques: Composées de milliards de nanomachines spécialisées travaillant de concert, les nanofabriques (ou usines moléculaires) ressembleraient à des appareils domestiques pas si éloignés que cela de nos imprimantes à jet d'encre. [...] ces petites machines convertissent des matériaux bruts en objets manufacturés. [...] 3D print lab. Impression 3D. L'institut à développé un procédé de fabrication génératif, qui consiste à déposer sélectivement un agent liant pour joindre des particules de poudre ou des granulés (agglomérats poudre-liant) et construire un objet couche par couche.
Le projet s'inspire de la technologie three-dimensional printing, qui est bien établie dans le marché pour des pièces en polymère, plâtre ou cellulose, mais qui a des grandes limitations pour la production des composants métalliques ou céramiques denses. Dans la technologie classique, une colle ou liant est imprimée sur des couches de poudre. Ce liant est giclé par une tête d'impression dans une aire 2D pour consolider une couche.
La plate-forme descend alors de l'épaisseur d'une couche et le cycle d'impression est répété jusqu'à l'obtention de la géométrie désirée. Finalement, la poudre en excès est retirée et le "corps vert" ainsi obtenu est soumis à un déliantage suivi d'un frittage. Pièces en acier inoxydable 17-4PH fabriquées sans usinage et sans moule, Additive manufacturing. An ORDbot Quantum 3D printer. 3D printing or additive manufacturing[1] is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. 3D printing is achieved using an additive process, where successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes.[2] 3D printing is also considered distinct from traditional machining techniques, which mostly rely on the removal of material by methods such as cutting or drilling (subtractive processes).
A 3D printer is a limited type of industrial robot that is capable of carrying out an additive process under computer control. The 3D printing technology is used for both prototyping and distributed manufacturing with applications in architecture, construction (AEC), industrial design, automotive, aerospace, military, engineering, dental and medical industries, biotech (human tissue replacement), fashion, footwear, jewelry, eyewear, education, geographic information systems, food, and many other fields.
3D Printing Used to Create Spare Parts, Save Money.
3D printing method advances electrically small antenna design | Engineering at Illinois. While most electronic components benefit from decreased size, antennas—whether in a cell phone or on an aircraft—suffer limitations in gain, efficiency, system range, and bandwidth when their size is reduced below a quarter-wavelength. (l to r) Postdoctoral researcher Jacob Adams with principal investigators Jennifer Bernhard and Jennifer Lewis.
“Recent attention has been directed toward producing antennas by screen-printing, inkjet printing, and liquid metal-filled microfluidics in simple motifs, such as dipoles and loops,” explained Jennifer T. Bernhard, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Illinois. “However, these fabrication techniques are limited in both spatial resolution and dimensionality, yielding planar antennas that occupy a large area relative to the achieved performance.” “To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of 3D printed antennas on curvilinear surfaces,” Lewis stated. Optical image of an antenna during the printing process. Jennifer A. National Geographic Known Universe S03E06 Print Tools US Military Has Project to Develop Additive Manufacturing to Make Parts for Military Equipment for in-theater repairs.
Ad Support : Nano TechnologyNetbook Technology News Computer Software Instead of a part breakdown causing a nearly two day outage, the equipment could be working again in about 14 hours When the military needs a critical piece of equipment for a repair in-theater that isn't readily available, the missing parts could jeopardize an important mission. To get the missing pieces, one traditional solution involves using strategically placed warehouses stocked with replacement gear. Another method is to pay a contractor to make a batch of parts on demand. There is a MITRE research project called MakeOne that would use 3D printing as its core, and which could cut days off getting critical parts to the field. The US military for more timely spare parts and the previously mentioned Airbus effort to develop the ability to print an airplane show that there are deep pocketed efforts to scale up additive manufacturing. The Vision A part breaks in the field (1).
Types of Additive Manufacturing Thank You. Militarymakeone.jpg (JPEG Image, 500x384 pixels) The US Army’s Mobile Parts Hospitals. Mar 29, 2010 12:48 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff MPH in Balad, Iraq (click to view full) TV taught us what a “Mobile Army Surgical Hospital” was, but a “Mobile Parts Hospital”? Like a MASH unit that can go wherever it is needed, the MPH is designed as a front line resource for patching things up – but it is for machines, not men. Since their initial deployment in 2003, the MPHs have fabricated more than 100,000 replacement parts, replacement components, and special tools. As Maj. Andris Ikstrums, 1st Battalion, 402nd Army Field Support Brigade support operations officer, puts it: “These guys can manufacture parts in a matter of minutes that normally have more than a 60-day lead time if ordered from the States.”
That improves readiness rates, and also saves money. The primary MPH unit is housed in an 8-foot-tall by 8-foot-wide by 20-foot-long ISO container that can be transported on a truck, ship or C-130 Hercules aircraft. Contracts & Key Events Additional Readings & Sources. SCRA wins contract to provide mobile metalcasting to Army. <a href=" wins contract to provide mobile metalcasting to Army. </a> Applied research and commercialization group the South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW).
Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). The Tactical Metal Fabrication fabrication (fab´rikā´sh n),n the construction or making of a restoration. Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, Warren, Mich., is intended to give the Army the ability to deploy shipping containers equipped with metal analysis and casting equipment into battle. TacFab is being developed to complement the Army's deployable Mobile Parts Hospitals, field maintenance units housed in containers staffed by industrial specialists responsible for manufacturing machined parts. 2. COPYRIGHT 2009 American Foundry Society, Inc. Website homepage. Second Generation Mobile Parts Hospital manufactured at Clegg Ind., Inc.
TACOM LCMC resets mobile parts hospital slated for use in Iraq. <div id="others"><ul><li><a href="/media/31680/"><img src=" width="150" alt="TACOM resets mobile parts hospital slated for use in Iraq" /></a><div class="title" style = "font-weight:bold;"></div><div class="caption">TACOM Life Cycle Management Command Industrial Base Operations Mobile Parts Hospital Program Manager Jim Uribe (right) Donald Casteel, contracting program manager, Honeywell, Inc., (left) and, Donald J. Hagarty, Ultra-Tech president, recognize... The TACOM Life Cycle Management Command held a ceremony June 25 at Ultra Tech Machinery Inc., Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, to recognize completion of the first reset Mobile Parts Hospital module slated to be used in Iraq. "Soldiers no longer have to wait weeks or even months for repair parts," said Jim Uribe, TACOM LCMC Industrial Base Operations MPH program manager.
Ultra-Tech's president, Donald J. RESILIENT COMMUNITY: Forget Afghanistan, These are Needed in Detroit etc. Logistics: The Bottomless Cargo Container. August 14, 2010: U.S. SOCOM (Special Operations Command) has adopted an old U.S. Army concept to create mobile workshops (MTCs or Mobile Technology Complex) that can fix exotic gear (which SOCOM has a lot of), modify their special gear, or even create something new. The MTC is a modified (with new some gear) version of the decade old U.S. Army MPH (Mobile Parts Hospital).
The MPH was developed when the army realized that the easiest way to get the many rarely requested, but vital, replacement parts to the troops, was to manufacture the parts in the combat zone. The key to making this work was the availability of computer controlled machine tools, which can take a block of the proper metal, and machine it into the desired part. There are four MPH systems in service, two of them in Afghanistan. Mobile Parts Hospital. Engineering Workshops Now Available In War Zones. U.S. Special Operations Command has come up with a workshop-in-a-box concept that turns engineers in war zones into real-world MacGyvers. The so-called mobile technology complex comes in five different configurations inside a shipping container. The shops are filled with machine tools, computers and communications equipment.
There also are other tools for bending, turning and molding wood, plastics and metals. “This is a way to take engineering talent, innovative capability, creative juice and get it close to the operator,” said William Shepherd, director of science and technology, during the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference, in Tampa, Fla. Eight of these mobile shops have been deployed to various locations in Afghanistan as part of an ongoing year-long experiment.
“This is the end pipe for us to push technology and capability forward,” said Shepherd. The project is part of a $5 million SOCOM program that seeks to expedite technology to the field. Mobile Parts Hospitals resuscitate broken gear. <div id="others"><ul><li><a href="/media/64138/"><img src=" width="150" alt="MRAP Rear Door" /></a><div class="title" style = "font-weight:bold;"></div><div class="caption">The replacement MRAP rear door latches were fabricated from hardened steel at the Mobile Parts Hospital, located at 1st Bn., 402nd AFSB. The replacement latches can handle the weight of the up-armored doors keeping the vehicles mission ready. </div></li><li><a href="/media/64139/"><img src=" width="150" alt="Part Modification" /></a><div class="title" style = "font-weight:bold;"></div><div class="caption">These two parts show how the Mobile Parts Hospital located at the 1st Bn., 402nd AFSB at Joint Base Balad can improve parts for use by Soldiers in the field.
US Army Finds 3D Printing + Shipping Container = Instant Parts. Images via Clegg Industries 3D Printing is a great way to reduce inventory shipping costs and make good design accessible to anyone anywhere; PSFK writes that the US Army has been demonstrating the benefits for a couple of years. But there are not a lot of computerized machine tools and 3D printers in Afghanistan, so the Army ordered up the Mobile Parts Hospital, (MPH) with a computerized machine tool inside a shipping container sized box.
The latest model even has a pop-out for more space, just like an RV.Strategy Page writes: In the last six years, MPHs have manufactured over 100,000 parts, on the spot. The plans for the parts are in the cloud or in the machine, and the toolmakers respond to conditions on the ground: The MPH has a high speed satellite data link, which enables it to obtain the CAD file for a part. Hyperlocal manufacturing works for the army, which finds itself in places with lousy and expensive supply lines.
Hyperlocal manufacturing is real. Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication. NASA engineers test the EBF3 system during a parabolic flight in 2007. NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) is the originator and world leader in Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication (EBF3) technology development. The Additive Manufacturing Process was primarily developed and engineered by Karen Taminger, material research engineer for NASA LaRC. EBF3 is a NASA-patented additive manufacturing process designed to build complex, near-net-shape parts requiring substantially less raw material and finish machining than traditional manufacturing methods.
There is a history of over a decade of successful collaboration with other NASA centers (JSC, GRC, GSFC and MSFC), Federal agencies and the U. S. aerospace industry. Since 2000, a Team of Researchers at the NASA LaRC have led the fundamental research and development of this technique for additive manufacturing; which is cost-effective, “green” manufacturing technology, for metallic aerospace structures. See also[edit] References[edit] NASA’s EBF3: The Future of Art-to-Part Manufacturing.
Fabrication avec une imprimante 3D. About - How it works.