Army planners say they envision a portable set of interchangeable components that could be used to build a wide assortment of UAVs. Ideally, a 3-D production system would churn out the frame, while a selection of motors, sensors, cameras and other apparatus could be selected from a standing inventory: “It’s an integrated system model that allows you to match the mission to the components,” said Eric Spero, a team lead within ARL’s vehicle technology directorate. “If I know what mission I need to accomplish, I want to be able to select the most appropriate electronics and combine that with a predefined structure.”
The Army is not alone in offering up a vision for a 3D-printed UAV. Hobbyists can download instructions for build-it-yourself copters and can even buy ready-made printable drone kits on Amazon. YouTube offers video tutorials. But the military-grade project looks to go beyond these commercials offerings, by making available the widest possible range of vehicles: “Our emphasis is on inherent flexibility,” said John Gerbes, a mechanical engineer at ARL. “It’s not just about providing a 3D-printed UAV but about providing a suite of tool to meet mission-specific needs.”
The use of 3D printing, or additive technology, makes it possible to create these ad hoc solutions to meet a broad range of requirements. Rather than carry parts and pieces for every possible configuration, soldiers will be able to manufacture on the fly those components that best suit the need: “If you can scale the arms longer or shorter, that links to the motor, which links to the battery, which links to the control systems. When you can do that, that is when you are really leveraging the power of additive technology,” Spero said.
“This is one step toward giving soldiers the right tools they need when they need them,” said Larry “L.J.” Holmes, Lead, Additive Manufacturing-Hybrid Operations Team (AM-HOT) at RDECOM, the Research, Development and Engineering Command. He described UAVs as the “low-hanging fruit,” a point of interest across Army and Marine Corps user groups. But he suggested that this capability might be just a starting point as the Army seeks other areas in which 3D printing could fulfill mission-specific needs on the fly. So, why carry around UAVs... when they can be printed on the spot?
