News from 3D PRINT.COM

The development of 3D-printed robots is no longer a novelty. Recently, students from Georgia Tech (School for Electrical Engineering and Information Technology) have developed an extraordinary robot. The robot being referred to is SlothBot, which is partly additively manufactured. This adorable robot is meant to be a long-term environmental observer. SlothBot hangs out in the trees, watching the plants, animals, and environmental conditions and moving only when necessary.

 

The Georgia Tech team first started working on the SlothBot last year, completing a much smaller prototype for the International Conference on Robotics and Automation. The current iteration, supported by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research, is three feet long. The robot takes inspiration from its animal namesake, showing how a slower pace can work for some applications. The resemblance with an actual sloth can be seen not only in the design but also in the robot’s slow mode of locomotion.

 

The researchers programmed it to move along a 100-foot cable strung between two trees, using sensors to track data such as carbon dioxide levels, temperature, and weather. It only moves when it needs to and searches for sunshine to recharge its solar-powered batteries. Eventually, the SlothBot will be able to cover more ground by climbing from cable to cable, as a sloth might.

 

The SlothBot features a 3D-printed shell, with an attached solar panel that powers the motors, gearing, batteries and sensors inside. It’s only the latest example of 3D printing being used to help save endangered species.

 

It quickly became clear during the development stage that the robot would have to withstand long-term weather fluctuations. As a solution, the researchers used 3D printing, more specifically an FFF 3D printer, to manufacture a cover that would protect the electronics. One of the advantages of 3D printing lies in the freedom of design – since the SlothBot will be used in places where visitors are present, the goal is for the robot not to be perceived as a nuisance.

 

An even greater advantage, however, is the weight reduction made possible by 3D printing. After all, the SlothBot will be powered by solar cells, thus, it should be as energy-efficient as possible.

 

“This is not the way robots are normally developed today, but if SlothBot is slow and energy-efficient, it can linger in the environment to observe what we can only see if we are present for months or even years without interruption,” stated by Steve W. Chaddick.

 

Applications of the SlothBot

 

The team says that SlothBot can aid them in better understanding the abiotic elements that impact critical ecosystems so that animals and the ecosystems themselves can be better protected. But, the low-energy robot could also be used in precision agriculture, relying on its sensors and a camera to measure humidity, watch for insect infestation, and even detect crop diseases early.

 

The SlothBot is already being used in a botanical garden in Atlanta. There it moves along a taut rope that is almost 30 meters long. In the future, the SlothBot should be able to monitor forest areas of up to 30 hectares. For this purpose, only some additional lanes will have to be set up. The idea is that the robot will stay put most of the time, and move only when measurements of temperature and carbon dioxide are to be taken. The measurements should help to better understand the environment and protect endangered plants and animals.

 

“With the rapid loss of biodiversity and the potential extinction of more than a quarter of the world’s plants, SlothBot offers a great opportunity to work towards the conservation of the rare species,” pointed out by Mr Coffey, the owner of the botanical garden.

 

Before it moves on, the SlothBot could also get Botanical Garden visitors, especially children, more interested in conservation efforts.

In the long term, more robots will be used to monitor forests or even agricultural lands to make observations that will help prevent pest infestation!

News from tct Magazine

Online 3D printed parts for serial production

 

“2020 marks a new decade in which manufacturing will become more localised, on-demand and freed of design constraints. 3D printing is a key driver of this change.”

 

3D printing now is adopted by the early majority for serial production. With ubiquitous applications across multiple industries—including automotive, aerospace, maritime, medical, space, sports, motorsports, railway, and defence—3D printing is changing new product development and aftermarket supply chains globally. 3D printing is only one part of the new digital manufacturing stack. Joined by other digital manufacturing technologies, such as CNC machining and low-run injection moulding, and empowered by digital supply chains and smart factories, 3D printing is forming the new manufacturing landscape.

 

The latest industry report by online 3D printing network 3D Hubs has found that the total value of parts 3D printed in the last year gained a 300% increase, suggesting a shift to a more professional, industrial-centric user base. The report also found that 40% of all online 3D printed parts in 2019 were designed for serial production, based on insights from the company’s order database and a review of the market. Additionally, more professional users are turning to online platforms to fulfil their manufacturing needs, driven by the availability of and access to multiple processes and materials that they may not be able to invest in in-house. Furthermore, the report found that 3D printing is being complemented by other technologies such as CNC machining and low-run injection moulding on the factory floor.

 

The leading AM companies including HP, Formlabs and Carbon expressed their thoughts on how the industry will progress; “impossible geometries” thanks to a better understanding of design for additive manufacturing, increased accessibility to more powerful systems, and breakthrough applications that will replace traditional processes, were cited as key predictions for the industry going forward.

 

The Untapped Potential – Medical 3D printing 

Medical equipment manufacturers can leverage additive manufacturing to improve performance and enhance patient outcomes.

 

Medical equipment manufacturers serious about taking advantage of AM’s benefits need an equally engaged partner who brings more to the table than just 3D printers. The right partner will help an organization implement the technology and accompanying procedures to operate more efficiently, better serving client needs. AM is relatively new and lack of standards to reference can be an impediment. Therefore, it’s important to find a knowledgeable consultant team to ensure success when communicating with regulatory bodies and identifying gaps in quality systems.

 

If companies can identify products or situations where AM can be applied, they can better set up quality systems to leverage data for fast-follower products in their AM pipeline. Much of this groundwork is done before production begins. A partner must offer a high degree of engagement on the front end to understand what the producer is trying to accomplish and how to help get there. So-called Additive Minds – human-centred design and innovation experts who work to minimize risks while quickly getting to serial production with the greatest possible design freedom.

 

Once systems are operational, the right partner will help producers think toward future applications and ensure platforms are built to sustain future production needs. Ideally, an expert partner will also offer education and training opportunities. Whether learning the fundamentals and safety measures or more advanced capabilities of AM machines, they’ll ensure producers get the most out of their investments.

 

The history of quality offered by experienced AM technology partners, as well as the technology’s ability to create complex geometrical structures, makes it ideal for high-value applications within medical settings. For medical equipment manufacturers, it’s important to recognize the powerful capabilities of 3D printing to better serve clients now and into the future!

News from 3DPrinting.com

The mechanical properties of 3D printed thermoplastic materials have been genuinely all around investigated now. Sure there is consistently opportunity to get better, progressively, after some time, specialists will make new polymer mixes or new filled plastics, and there will be steady gains in quality.

 

In the long run, the engineering polymer materials will be equivalent to specific metals regarding weight and quality. In any case, there is something else entirely to 3D printed polymers than simple explicit quality. A few organizations have been playing around with the electrical properties of the feedstocks, for some time, aiming to make them conductive and static-dissipative. 

 

ESD, or electrostatic discharge, is the release of power between a statically charged item, (for example, your hand), and another object of various possibilities, for example, a metal door handle. You comprehend what occurs straightaway: you contact the door handle, you get a shock. Human beings can begin to feel ESD on the skin at around 2000-3000 volts. The current is negligible, otherwise it would kill you.

 

Small electronics components, for example, the transistors on an IC, notwithstanding, can be completely pulverized by ESD with voltages lower than only 10 volts of static electricity. That is also the curves caused as a statically charged object attempts to ground itself across an air gap. You don’t want these sparkles flying around as you fill your fuel tank with petroleum. Both of these reasons and more are the reason item planners and specialists need ESD safe plastics. The secure ESD touchy electronic segments during production and prevent service stations from detonating. 

 

As far as ESD safe materials, they can be isolated into two principle gatherings. These are conductive, and static-dissipative materials. Conductors have low electrical opposition and can move electric charge using the mass material or over the surface. In ESD application, they are utilized in those ESD armbands that you wear on your wrist and interface with the ground. They are additionally utilized on those plates that you remain on when entering an ESD controlled region, for example, in an electronics factory.

 

Conductive vs. Static-Dissipative Materials

Conductive materials have an extremely low electrical obstruction, permitting electrons to stream effectively over their surface or through the main part of the material. Charge streams rapidly starting with one conductor then onto the next. With static-dissipative materials, the charge streams all the more gradually. At the point when an arc occurs, it does as such at a more slow speed, and with lower energy, as it attempts to arrive at the ground. 

 

Plastics are insulators. They hold a charge and have high electrical opposition. To have a way to ground, conductive fillers must be added to the material to be dissipative. To be classed as an ESD safe material, the surface obstruction of that material must fall inside the scope of 10⁵ Ω and 10¹¹ Ω. If it is less than that range, it is conductive. If it is more, then it is an insulator.

 

The following are a couple of various materials which are intended for ESD applications covering the principle of plastic printing techniques.

 

Extruded Materials

 

Filament deposition adjusts the surface obstruction by the expansion of some type of carbon. ESD safe materials are accessible in a wide range of polymer flavours including high-temperature nylon, TPU and polycarbonate. Ultimaker has an extraordinary outline of ESD safe materials which are additionally tried on their machines.

 

Sintered Materials

 

The ESD benevolent sintered plastic feedstocks are less various than their expelled fibre counterparts. In any case, they are still economically accessible for any individual who possesses an SLS machine fit for printing plastics. For instance, a sintered material named iglidur I8-ESD; it has high scraped spot opposition and is electrostatically dissipative. As indicated, it is good with most SLS Machines.

 

Photopolymers

 

There is by all accounts an unmistakable lack of alternatives where it comes to ESD safe photopolymeric resins for some reasons. Indeed, even Carbon doesn’t have anything recorded.

 

There is an organization named 3DResyns who publicize an assortment of conductive resins, and they state that by including different conductive and semi-conductive particles to their mix, they would custom be able to make ESD safe photopolymeric resins to prerequisites. Also, there is an organization named Fortify who makes a half and hybrid DLP/composite printer, who has several alternatives concerning ESD safe materials. 

 

Their printing procedure includes the ordinary layerwise statement, as found in a regular photopolymer printing process, yet with the expansion of a blending tank that infuses the added substances into the base pitch. They call this procedure Digital Composite Manufacturing.

Also, the framework has something many refer to as “Fluxprint”, which utilizes magnets to adjust the particles in the tar as it is relieving. This improves the quality of the parts. 

 

Fortify site interestingly says that the functional additives must be consistently dispersed to accomplish steady material properties. Their purported Continuous Kinetic Mixing process tends to this issue by mixing resin and additives continually, mitigating settling of additive particles. Asides from these two organizations, no further resin makers were discovered selling ESD resins. Right off the bat, it might essentially be as Fortify has expressed. Perhaps the resins and additives must be continually blended to print appropriately, henceforth why no one is doing it. 

 

If you need anything 3D printed that is ESD safe, at that point you will have significantly more fortune with filament expulsion printers or powder bed combination plastics.

Use case from 3D PRINTING.COM

The marine gear and extra parts acquisition site ShipParts.com as of late reported that they’ll be embracing 3D printing to gracefully parts to clients all the more rapidly. Diminishing personal time in the marine business where boats end up abandoned several miles from shore is truly an immeasurably significant issue.

ShipParts.com works with in excess of 1,800 customers and 17,000 merchants over the globe so their appropriation of AM will have broad advantages. The diminished outflows alone merit the rebuilding costs. They don’t at present intend to do any of the 3D imprinting in-house; they’ll be joining forces with built up printing administrations to manufacture a trustworthy system that can deliver new parts on-request.

It’s difficult to contend with the attempt to close the deal of delivering new parts with 3D printing: make the specific part the client needs, when they need it, where they need it. It bodes well that we consider being a pace of selection as it empowers providers to run more slender and greener!

News from 3DPRINT.COM

 

AFO (Ankle-Foot Orthosis) is a help support, or brace, that encompasses the region over the lower leg down to the foot, and is utilized to treat the issue like foot drop and flat feet. Traditional techniques for fabricating used to make AFOs can take quite a while, which is the reason 3D printing is being utilized all the more frequently to create these.

A group of scientists from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) distributed “A Comparative Analysis between Conventional Manufacturing and Additive Manufacturing of Ankle-Foot Orthosis” that takes a gander at the ongoing examination on 3D printed AFOs, and contrasts ones made with conventional manufacturing (CM) and additive manufacturing (AM), notwithstanding mechanical properties of 3D printed AFOs.

AFOs made with CM ordinarily utilize lightweight, economical thermoformed polymer sheets, as they may be “aesthetically pleasing” and can be effortlessly formed to a patient’s foot/ankle. Regardless of whether it’s made with 3D printing or not, a great AFO ought to be solid and perfectly sized, lightweight, and financially savvy – characteristics that both CM and AM ought to have the option to fulfil.

Various kinds of materials, running from nylon and PLA to PETG and ABS, have been utilized to manufacture AFOs, and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) appear to be the most well-known strategies. FDM dissolves thermoplastic fibres, at that point expels them through a spout to frame shapes, while SLS utilizes a laser beam to sinter powdered polymer materials, and at that point ties them together to make the model.

FDM printers have three phases – pre-processing, production, and post-processing – and with SLS printing, the AFO should be moved to a cleaning station so the abundance powder can be isolated from the 3D printed parts.

There are a few contrasts between making an AFO with CM and making it with AM. The initiative starts with a manual plaster casting, which is folded over the patient’s ankle and detached once solidified; later, this is used to construct a constructive pattern.

The cut line is ground and smoothed, and Velcro or lashes are eventually included. This protracted procedure requires “sensitive hands-on abilities.” 3D printing, in any case, requires an alternate arrangement of aptitudes. Disregard the plaster cast – a 3D scanner can quantify the limb, and CAD/CAM programming makes it simple to alter the AFO with less waste.

The specialists additionally took a gander at the attributes, and mechanical properties, of CM-and AM-delivered AFOs. A modulus and elasticity in 3D printed AFOs are like that of routinely fabricated ones – implying that the first quality of CM-made AFOs isn’t undermined when utilizing AM.

Looking for warping when 3D printing AFOs is required, which is the reason it’s basic to pick the correct materials. Polypropylene (PP) has a composed, semi-crystalline structure, so the material will cool down and set variously, prompting a high distorting rate. In any case, amorphous polymers ABS and PLA have less possibility of shrinkage or twisting due to their “disrupted polymer chains,” and reasonable PLA additionally has extraordinary rigidity.

Conclusion

Results from this analysis show that most ebb and flow examines utilize Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) or Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) for AFO fabricating, and the materials utilized are generally thermoplastics, for example, Nylon and Polyamide (PA).

The outcomes additionally show that the rigidity and the Modulus of a 3D-printed AFO could reach as high as 43 MPa and 3.9 GPa, separately. It tends to be presumed that 3D printing gives more extensive open doors in the improvement of AFO because of its adaptability in advancing complex geometries, time and weight investment funds, just as its cost-viability!