About this Abstract |
Meeting |
2021 Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium (SFF Symp 2021)
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Symposium
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Special Session
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Presentation Title |
A Multi Robot Coordinated-motion Approach to Large Scale Deposition Systems – MedUSA |
Author(s) |
Andrzej Nycz, Steven Patrick, Peter Wang, Mark Noakes, Lonnie Love, Jonathan Paul, Jason Flamm, Randy Lind |
On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Andrzej Nycz |
Abstract Scope |
Single deposition heads and gantry systems are the most common 3D printer kinematic arrangements. The recent advances in Direct Energy Deposition systems led to a more frequent use of classical robotic manipulators. This work presents the next step in the evolution of large-scale deposition systems. One of the major challenges of 3D printing is scaling up to be able to manufacture truly significant sizes, reaching far beyond the workspace provided by the standard 2m arms, while keeping high productivity and quality. While the typical way of increasing available workspace is to introduce a larger kinematic system or robot, a more optimal way of increasing the productivity and scale is by intelligently sharing the workload between several smaller subsystems working as one united collective. This work explores the potential, challenges and current capabilities of multi-robot coordinated large scale systems, based on the development of a four-robot wire-arc-based printer named MedUSA. |
Proceedings Inclusion? |
Definite: Post-meeting proceedings |