SBIR Phase I: Variable Machines

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to drastically reduce the cost, lead time, and material waste associated with large format additive manufacturing. This is achieved through the development of a reconfigurable print bed composed of an array of linear actuators, which can be individually adjusted in height thereby eliminating the need for a printed support structure. Additive manufacturing plays a critical role in R&D, and small volume manufacturing across the aerospace, renewable energy, automotive, and maritime industries. This technology will be instrumental in stirring innovation across these industries by enabling faster, more efficient rapid prototyping, and unlocking additive manufacturing as a viable mass manufacturing process. This technology is estimated to save manufacturers on the order of $1.1M in material costs per year, while requiring only 30% of the capital expenditure of existing large format additive manufacturing technologies. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project entails the design of a reconfigurable additive manufacturing print bed composed of an array of linear actuators, where each actuator is capable of sub 10 micron closed loop position feedback, and a pneumatic end effector capable of contact detection. A pair of these actuator arrays will be built, including the development of the embedded and front-end control software necessary to program them for a variety of tasks such as additive manufacturing and dynamic work holding. These actuator arrays will then be integrated with existing large format additive and subtractive manufacturing platforms, as well as an internally developed hybrid additive CNC tool. Particular research and development efforts will focus on early layer print process, where bridging between actuator end effectors will require non-planar slicing and control algorithms. Parts printed with this technology will be characterized to adjust process parameters and improve their final mechanical and thermal material properties. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.