MakerBot ha anunciado que su impresora 3D Method ha ganado el Red Dot Award 2019, resultando seleccionada entre más de 5.500 productos de más de 55 países.
Durante un proceso que se extiende durante varios días, los diferentes productos son evaluados por jueces de numerosos expertos y diversas disciplinas. La evaluación se centra en criterios como el nivel de innovación, funcionalidad, calidad formal, longevidad y ergonomía.
Lanzada en diciembre del pasado año 2018, Method cierra la brecha entre las impresoras de sobremesa y las impresoras industriales, ya que cuenta con ciertas patentes de Stratasys que le permiten ofrecer una precisión dimensional, una repetibilidad y una fiabilidad propias de una impresora 3D para aplicaciones industriales.
En este caso, el jurado valoró muy positivamente que el diseño de Method muestra la sinergia entre MakerBot y Stratasys, ofreciendo características propias de una impresora 3D para uso industrial.
Stratasys’ development of high-temperature materials, as well as the increased throughput of its Fortus3D Production Systems, enable the manufacture of high-temperature lay-up / sacrificial tooling in hours or days, rather than the weeks or months it would take to produce and procure tooling made from traditional methods.
3D printed tooling also offers disruptive cost-savings compared to traditional tooling materials and numerous other less quantified benefits, such as dramatic weight savings. This is being exemplified by Dutch 3D service bureau, Visual First, who is using FDM Nylon 12CF carbon-filled thermoplastic to replace metal machine parts for its customer, The Chocolate Factory.
This has significantly reduced machine downtime, ensuring production line continuity for the company. In fact, the replacement time of broken machine parts has been reduced from one month to one week using Stratasys additive manufacturing compared to traditional handmade metal replacements, with cost reductions of 60%.
The aerospace industry is leading the way for adoption of Additive Fabrication technologies for manufacturing applications. With widespread adoption of Additive Manufacturing for jigs, fixtures, and tooling applications on the shop floor, as well as the announcements of trailblazing companies like United Launch Alliance and Airbus qualifying additive manufactured high performance thermoplastic parts for flight applications, and the printed jet UAV demonstrated in 2015, the future of the industry is starting to take shape.
The webinar will be presented by Scott Sevcik, the Senior Manager for Aerospace & Defense Business Development at Stratasys. In this role, Scott is responsible for accelerating the adoption of 3D Printing in the aerospace and defense industries globally through building partnerships for application and technology development. Prior to Stratasys, Scott led the program management team developing sensors and integrated systems for commercial transport aircraft at United Technologies Aerospace Systems. At UTAS, and Lockheed Martin before that, he led engineering teams on development projects for the SmartProbe® AirData System, the Taiwan P-3 Aircraft, and a satellite launch program. Scott also led proposal efforts for UAVs, avionics, and missile defense programs at Lockheed Martin. Scott holds Master’s degrees in Business Administration and Aerospace Engineering from San Jose State University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Political Science from Iowa State University.
During the webinar you will learn about:
The recent steps forward in manufacturing for the aerospace industry
The key applications in which the technology is in use
Where Additive Manufacturing for aerospace is headed
Aerialtronics is a Dutch company producing commercial UAVs. Because of its 3D printingcapabilities, their UAVs can be fully customized to meet the needs of individual customers. Some UAVs are used in livestock monitoring, infrastructure inspection, and creative filming.
It was estimated that the company’s research and development costs were diminished by 50% from the use of 3D printing. 3D printing is used to create different-sized sensor equipment, GPS systems, and boxes that accommodate for cables and other electronic components.
Aerialtronics uses Stratasys 3D printing technology to build the UAVs. On a broader scale, streamlining and employing this more cost-effective process permits small companies like Aerialtronics to become a strong contender in the international UAV market. There is no doubt that 3D printed UAVs will continue to grow into even more useful applications that simplify our lives and meet our everyday needs: Imagine being able to build an UAV on the whim, and customize it to your own specifications, thus making it more affordable and accessible than ever before: This becomes a reality with today’s 3D printing capabilities. Aside from the benefit of creating custom UAVs, 3D printing offers easy upgradation opportunities: In other words, it is easier to make modifications to a 3D design, then print and test it until the desired variation is achieved. In other ways, now a user can replace broken or malfunctioning parts on an existing UAV with 3D printed ones. So far, several components can be 3D printed including the frame, landing gear, propellers, camera mount, antenna holder, and protective equipment. Another advantage of 3D printing results from building UAV parts in new lightweight materials. An UAV will perform better and fly longer when it is lighter. It also has better battery life and responsiveness to commands in-flight when it is lighter and weight is evenly distributed. The versatility of materials used for 3D printing translates into higher performance features in the UAVs.
Military branches are also focusing on 3D Printing to explore new ways to make cheaper, lighter, and more effective UAVs. A Marine Corp named Rhet McNeal created Scout, an UAV composed of 3D printed components. This UAV only costs $600 to build in comparison to a traditional one that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Since it is 3D printed, should the UAV receive any damage, the parts can be easily printed and replaced within hours. On the other hand, a standard-issue UAV would require weeks, sometimes months, to get a replacement through the Marine Corps’ supply line. Scout is now in the hands of Mitre Corp., a USMCUAV supplier, to undergo certification testing.
¿More examples? The University of Virginia created a 3D printed UAV for the Department of Defense that can be printed in less than a day at $2,500, including electronics development. The body of the drone only costs $800. It is known as the Razor since it appears like one long wing. Weighing in at 6 pounds with all the equipment, the Razor can fly at 40 mph for up to 45 minutes.
The features and capabilities of the Razor are not compromised by the fact that it is 3D printed: after all, it has all the same functions as a traditional UAV with GPS waypoints for navigation, mile-distance control, camera hoisting, and phone linking capabilities that extend the distance it can be controlled within. The greatest advantage of this being 3D printed is that it can be modified and reprinted on the whim.
Last but not least: Soleon is an ItalianUAV company advancing its efforts in 3D printing UAVs. Because it deals with diverse projects, including aerial photography and thermal mapping, designs ought to be flexible and quick for upgrades. Soleon uses Materialise to meet customer needs, shorten lead times, and reduce UAV weight. One of their 3D printed UAVs is called SoleonAgro, which is intended for agricultural pest control.
As an small company with only 35 employees, a major challenge for Aerialtronics is to develop systems that could meet the requirements of a variety of industries without spreading its resources too thin between dozens of discrete designs. “We have developed a concept that uses a standard platform and is customizable to individual customers and applications,” explains Joost Hezemans, head designer at Aerialtronics.
In order to reduce development times and contain its costs, Aerialtronics sought a faster, more cost-effective solution than outsourcing. Working closely with Stratasys, the company installed a uPrint SE Plus 3D Printer:“With the uPrint 3D Printer, we can adjust a design one day and 3D print new parts overnight, test it, tweak it some more, and print another to test the next day,” Hezemans says. “This process means that designs have gone through between five and 10 more iterations than before. We have been able to 3D print more, see more and fly more than previously possible, and thanks to 3D printing, the product is much better."
‘As we continue to design parts specifically for additive manufacturing, we are finding more and more applications that are delivering value. In the future, I believe that FDM 3D printing will become an integral part of our entire tool development cycle and help us further improve business performance.’ says Carlo Cavallini, GKN lead process engineer.
GKN Driveline—an UK-based, multi-national driveline components supplier and division of global engineering company GKN— is expanding deployment of Stratasys 3D printing solutions at its plant in Florence, Italy, thus replacing several traditional manufacturing processes. GKN Driveline serves over 90 percent of automotive manufacturers globally, including the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Group as well as Ferrari and Maserati. Customer lead times are continuing to shorten and the plant in Florence identified several applications that 3D printing could be used for, facilitating an overall increase in productivity.
‘The ability to quickly 3D print tools and parts that are customized to a specific production need gives us a new level of flexibility and significantly reduces our supply chain,’ adds Cavallini, also team leader at the plant. ‘Considering that we produce several thousand, individual parts a week, this ability to manufacture on-demand is crucial to ensuring our production line is always operational and maintains business continuity.' The plant’s factory floor team is using the Fortus 450mc to produce complex assembly tools for the production line in almost 70 percent less time than it takes using traditional methods. This, in turn, has enabled the team to undertake feasibility analyses of the tools and start using them more quickly, therefore accelerating the overall production schedule.
The team also managed to print a bespoke end-of-arm tool that moves individual components from one point of the assembly line to the next. It is made from ULTEM 9085 high-performance 3D printing material and can therefore endure prolonged use, said to equal that of a like-for-like metal component. A number of 3D printed end-of-arm tools are now in use across production, significantly reducing production downtime. 3D printing is also being used to produce customized, on-demand replacement parts for manufacturing equipment. For instance, the team recently printed a missing cable bracket for a robot, saving a week on the time it would have taken for a supplier to deliver it and consequently accelerating the delivery of parts to customers.
In this report, the firm Research and Markets projects that the yearly value of Additive Manufacturing (AM) in the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) industry to reach $1.9 billion, driving over $400 million in yearly sales of AM equipment, software, materials and services.
The Drone AM report also provides information on which companies and institutions in the space infrastructure industry are using additive manufacturing today, with relevant case studies. Key firms in the drone AM segment include: Boeing, CRP Group, DJI, EHANG, EOS, General Atomics, HP, Hubsan, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Oxford Performance Materials (OPM), Parrot, Ricoh, Stratasys, 3D Systems and 3DR.
The report includes an in-depth analysis of the materials used for drone AM prototyping and production, which takes into consideration both high performance polymers and metals as well as composites, ceramics and technologies for direct 3D printing of electronics.
More and more, Additive Manufacturing is now seen as a complementary technology, as witnessed by the increased in hybrid printers that combine 3D Printing and CNC machining.
Now, Stratasys, one of the leading players in the 3D printing industry, is sharing some of that expertise via a new whitepaper titled "How Additive and Traditional Manufacturing Mix".
Additively manufactured composites offer advantages that include greater design flexibility, decreased costs and production efficiency. In this e-book, you’ll learn more about:
Reinforced thermoplastics for high-performance applications
Multi-axis motion platforms for design optimization
Lightweight, agile mold tooling capabilities
Sacrificial tooling for easier production of hollow composites
Autoclave cure- and high-temperature-capable materials
Download this FREE e-book to learn how additive manufacturing enables a new era of lightweight structures with degrees of geometric complexity, part consolidation, and design optimization not previously possible.
¿Es posible fabricar un UAV mediante Impresión 3D... y que lleve embebida la electrónica? La respuesta es SÍ, SIN DUDA.
El reto lo ha protagonizado Phillip Keane, estudiante de la Universidad Tecnológica de Nanyang (Singapur), quien ha diseñado y fabricado un UAV con material Ultem 9085, utilizando para ello un sistema de producción 3D Fortus 450mc. Aunque se trataba sólo de un prototipo, el reto demostró la posibilidad de llevar a cabo una fabricación automatizada de UAVs complejos y funcionales mediante impresión 3D.
Yeggi is a search engine for printable 3D Models. They collect data from all 3D Communities and marketplaces offering 3D models to print, and give you the best results to find 3D models on the internet. ¿Are you looking for a 3D-Printable racing drone? here you have +2.700 printable 3D Models: Just click on the icons, download the file(s) and print them on your 3D printer
The Federal Aviation Administration has released its much anticipated Part 107 rules, which cover the use of drones for non-recreational purposes in the U.S. airspace system. The Part 107 rules are based on a document called the Notice of Proposed Rule-making (NPRM), which was released in February 2015. (Read more)
Airbus Defence and Space believes the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) market is poised for massive growth, and it is seeking to become involved in this sector, through technology like its Zephyr pseudo-satellite. (Read more)
As 3D Printing technologies continue to grow, it allows the aerospace industry to lower costs and production time. At the Dubai Air Show, Stratasys unveiled the largest 3D printed UAV. Bloomberg was there as it happened:
As Additive Manufacturing technologies continue to grow, it allows the aerospace industry to lower costs and production time. At the Dubai Air Show, 3D Printing giant Stratasys unveiled the largest 3D printed unmanned aerial vehicle in the World. See and enjoy video:
In this white paper, Stratasys' VP Jeff DeGrange discusses the benefits and future of Additive Manufacturing in the Aerospace Industry. DeGrange discusses the scalability of 3D Printers and how they can print with various materials in almost any imaginable shapes. With a series of printers aerospace manufactures can build a fleet of prototypes, training mock-ups, manufacturing tools, UAV's, and even some finished goods.
