A conventional three dimensional (3D) printer utilizes horizontal planar layering to produce 3D printed parts. The development of a higher degree of freedom 3D printing platform allows for vertical and horizontal layering to be achieved in the same print. 3D-printed specimens were created using a conventional Cartesian 3D printer that utilizes layer upon layer deposition in a single plane. Multiplane 3D printed specimens were also created, using a robot arm platform with multiplane layering capabilities. All of the test specimens were put through tensile tests to characterize the mechanical properties of multiplane layered parts compared to single-plane layered parts. Three printing orientations, upright, on-edge, and horizontal, were used for both the conventional 3D printer and the robot arm platform 3D printer processes. The results show that the multiplane layering method implemented by the robot arm 3D printer improved the modulus of elasticity, the yield strength, and the ultimate tensile strength of the tensile specimens in the upright printing orientation compared to the specimens created by the conventional 3D printer. These results can be used to improve the design of 3D printed parts that require specific mechanical characteristics.

Additive manufacturing is a process to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) objects usually by joining a material layer by layer. The layer by layer joining process simplifies the fabrication method by slicing the 3D object into stacks of 2D contours. The layers are combined in a single build direction to form the 3D object. In this research, a six degrees of freedom robot arm is integrated with a fused deposition modeling system for multi-plane and 3D lattice structure printing applications. The integration processes in developing the platform are discussed including the robot arm platform, extruder system, software architecture, toolpath generation, 3D lattice generator, and extruder calibration. Use of the system offers unique advantages over a conventional Cartesian 3D printer platform which is limited to single-plane layering for the printing of 3D objects. Test cases are performed to demonstrate the capability of the robot arm fused deposition modeling platform for multi-plane object printing and 3D lattice structure printing.

This article discusses the concept of using an industrial robot arm platform for additive manufacturing. The concept being explored is the integration of existing additive manufacturing process technologies with an industrial robot arm to create a 3D printer with a multi-plane layering capability. The objective is to develop multi-plane toolpath motions that will leverage the increased capability of the robot arm platform compared to conventional gantry-style 3D printers. This approach enables print layering in multiple planes whereas existing conventional 3D printers are restricted to a single toolpath plane (e.g. x-y plane). This integration combines the fused deposition modeling techniques using an extruder head that is typically used in 3D printing and a 6 degree of freedom robot arm. Here, a Motoman SV3X is used as the platform for the robot arm. A higher level controller is used to control the robot and the extruder. To communicate with the robot, MotoCom SDK libraries is used to develop the interfacing software between the higher level controller and the robot arm controller. The integration of these systems enabled multi-plane toolpath motions to be utilized to produce 3D printed parts. A test block has been 3D printed using this integrated system.

This paper presents the new form of coils for electromagnetic energy harvesting system based on topology optimization method which look-liked a cap to maximize the power output. It could increase the number of magnetic flux linkage interception of a cylindrical permanent magnet which in this case is of 10mm diameter. Several coils with different geometrical properties have been build and tested on a vibration generator with frequency of 100Hz. The results showed that the coil with lowest number of winding transduced highest power output of 680μW while the highest number of windings generated highest voltage output of 0.16V.