Additive Manufacturing has become prolific in the military, being used for various applications and across divisions. Now, two of the US military’s branches are teaming up for the development of 3D printed UAVs: “Several years ago when we were collaborating with our academic partner, Georgia Tech Research Institute, we had this project where we were focusing on design engineering of small unmanned aircraft systems,” said Eric Spero, a team lead within the Army Research Laboratory’s (ARL) Vehicle Technology Directorate.
The idea was to enable soldiers to custom design UAVs for specific missions using an app, and then to 3D print them within 24 hours. Spero and his team brought the project to life as part of the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE), which gives soldiers access to new technologies. Researchers from the ARL then reached out to the Marines, knowing that the Marines had been working with 3D printed UAVs, and began developing a software catalog that would allow users to choose and 3D print an UAV for their specific mission needs: “We have interacted with Marines who have never touched an unmanned system before to Marines who are experts in unmanned aerial flight,” said ARL engineer Larry “LJ” R. Holmes Jr. “Across the board they all seemed to be very interested in the topic of being able to manufacture a tool that they can use that was mission specific and has a turn around.”
The Marines expected that turnaround to be days or weeks, but the ARL showed them that it could be anywhere from minutes to hours. The researchers said they plan to streamline their processes based on feedback from the Marines to optimize situational awareness: “Things like additive manufacturing with materials, artificial intelligence and machine learning, unmanned systems technologies, these will enable us to bring together the capabilities that will allow the future Soldiers and Marines the decisive edge that they need in the battlefield,” said Elias Rigas, a Division Chief in ARL’s Vehicle Technology Directorate.
