Oliver Tolar and Denis Herrmann, students from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) developed a six axis Delta 3d printer with movable build plate.,
Reiner Schmidt shows his 3d printed six axis DIY robot arm. It is based on heavily modified open source Moveo by BCN3D mixed with THOR and powered by Raspberry Pi 3.
Researchers at Cornell made a modified 3d printer that prints on-the-fly as the model is developed in a CAD software. It has 6 axis of movement with mist cooling and cutter head to produce wire-frame objects.
Project description:
On-the-Fly Print is a 5DOF modelling and design prototype that allows the user to design 3D models digitally while having a low-fidelity physical model printed in parallel. Our software starts printing features as soon as they are created and updates the physical model as needed. Users can quickly check the design in a real usage context by removing the partial physical print from the printer and replacing it afterwards to continue printing.
RevoMaker uses hacked standard 3-axis FDM 3d printer and a laser cut cube core to print on its six sides. Cube core element can contain electronic components so ypu can make compex geometry objects with active components.
From project description:
We present “RevoMaker”, a self-contained 3D printer that creates direct out-of-the-printer functional prototypes, using less build material and with substantially less reliance on support structures.
By modifying a standard low-cost FDM printer with a revolving cuboidal platform and printing partitioned geometries around cuboidal facets, we achieve a multidirectional additive prototyping process to reduce the print and support material use. Our optimization framework considers various orientations and sizes for the cuboidal base.
The mechanical, electronic, and sensory components are preassembled on the flattened laser-cut facets and enclosed inside the cuboid when closed. We demonstrate RevoMaker directly printing a variety of customized and fully-functional product prototypes, such as computer mice and toys, thus illustrating the new affordances of 3D printing for functional product design.
WOW! I really dig this concept of five axis multi-tool! It gives you 5 axis CNC machine that includes milling and 3d printing heads, touch probe, hot wire-cutter and a special mount for custom tools. This is probably a dawn of low cost multi-axis and multi-tool digital fabrication devices.
The company that is developing it also created open source Grasshopper script that allows programming of this 5-axis machine.
It was sold on pre-order from Kickstarter campaign for £4,499 (about $7000). The pack included:
5AXISMAKER KICKSTARTER SPECIAL:
Base 5axismaker: 5axis machine + 1 milling tool head + Set of Tools (Touch-probe, 3d printer, Wire-cutter, Adapter for other tools). 5axismaker cutting/making volume 400x400x400 mm.
I'm really looking foreward for developments in this field! Only 3 axes is sooo yesterday!
Here you can see a close-up video of conformal 3d printing in 5 axis:
Stewart platform is a multi-purpuse robotic platform that is movable in six axis. This machine could be used in all sorts of project where you need multiaxial kinematics. I could see it even being used as part of a 3d printer.
Nicholas Pajerski made a tutorial on Instructables describing how to build a desktop Stewart platform with lasercut and 3d printed parts. It is controlled by Arduino and uses linear actuators enabling it to carry heavier loads.
Detailed build guide and all the parts files can be found at:
Laser metal deposition (LMD) is DMLS process that is the future of aerospace industry. Since European Union is a manufacturing powerhouse it is investing in many R&D projects like Merlin. Ever major technological power is in the race to rule the industry and advance in digital manufacturing age.
From project description:
A 5 axis laser metal deposition manufacturing method is being developed by TWI for an EU-funded project which is demonstrating drastic time reduction in the manufacture of aero engine casings.
In LMD, a weld track is formed using metal powder as a filler material which is fed through a coaxial nozzle, to a melt pool created by a focused high-power laser beam.
By traversing both the nozzle and laser, a new material layer develops with precise accuracy and user-defined properties. The application of multi-layering techniques allows 3D structures to be created.
While six axis 3d printer is nothing new, they are quit rare. There have been even robotic arms hacked to print in all axis even with metal like MX3D Metal. Still I find this robot to be more aesthetic and organic in operation. This machine prints self supporting floating structures inspired by spider webs in same ABS like most common DIY 3d printers and it is even Arduino controlled. It is based on KUKA industrial robotic arm and it is developed inside "Digital Future" project.
Project description:
"Digital Future" Shanghai Summer Workshop 2014 Instructor: YU Lei (Tsinghua) / Philip. F. YUAN(Tongji) / Panagiotis Michalatos(GSD) Collaborator: SHI Ji / LIU Xun / LUO Ruihua / CUI Yuqi
The project, Robotic 6-Axis 3D Printing, is a highly-integrated installation combining robotic system, 3D printing technique and interactive interface. It aims to provide the designer a digital method to eliminate the line between "Designing" and "Fabricating". In this case, architects provides more than just drawings and construction notes, however, they are capable of fabricating their work quickly and precisely by themselves
Most of today's researches and applications of robotic fabrication are limited to replicating human labor and raising efficiency of manufacturing. However, in the project of Robotic 6-Axis 3D Printing, we developed a fabrication strategy learning and emulating the law of nature (referring to Chinese philosophy "师法自然 ").
By studying the material and structure performance of 3D form in nature, we figured out a way to incorporate biomimetic fabrication strategy into 3D printing process. And by designing the special robotic-end effector (Tooling) and utilizing the great flexibility and accuracy of KUKA robot system, the biomimetic fabricating process has been fully realized.
The whole process embodied the concept of "Digital Craftsmanship", which emphasis the personality of designer and allows them to closely integrated "Designing" and "Fabricating".
Very innovative, complex and maneuverable 3d printer designs that has 6 articulated movement sources that enable printhead to print in six axis space. It demonstrates printing on angled and curved surfaces. Information about this concept is limited to this video, if anyone knows more, let me know.
