Cooperative 3D printing is an emerging technology that aims to overcome several limitations of contemporary 3D printing (e.g., print size, cost, complexity) by allowing multiple mobile 3D printers (or printhead-carrying mobile robots) to work simultaneously on a single print job. In particular, one challenge of 3D printing is the inability to incorporate pre-manufactured components in a structure without human intervention. In this paper, we present a mobile robot gripper that can work with other mobile 3D printers to pick and place pre-manufactured components into a 3D printed structure during the printing process. First, we designed a simple gripper using a rack and pinion actuator that can be driven by a single stepper motor like a regular extrusion printhead. Next, a mobile robot gripper is developed with the designed gripper mechanism. Finally, we tested the mobile robot gripper for picking and placing objects using G-code commands. Results show the mobile robot gripper can successfully pick and place pre-manufactured components into a 3D printed structure. This development will potentially enable autonomous hybrid manufacturing that combines 3D printing and traditional manufacturing to improve the quality and capability for manufacturing complex products. ; Mechanical Engineering


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    Title :

    A Mobile Robot Gripper for Cooperative 3D Printing


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    2017-01-01



    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



    Classification :

    DDC:    629



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