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THE WHEEL DEAL How Wheel.Me is changing factory automation one wheel at a time
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WELCOME EDITORIAL Editor Stephen Holmes stephen@x3dmedia.com +44 (0)20 3384 5297 Managing Editor Greg Corke greg@x3dmedia.com +44 (0)20 3355 7312 Consulting Editor Jessica Twentyman jtwentyman@gmail.com Consulting Editor Martyn Day martyn@x3dmedia.com +44 (0)7525 701 542
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ABOUT DEVELOP3D is published by
T
he year 2023 ground to a molasses-slow halt before the calendar flopped over onto the icy page of January. Hardly a bang, more of a reluctant sigh, the kind you might give before flipping the pillow over and going back to sleep. In 2023, many of us were finally able to get back into the swing of things, post-pandemic, yet the year also brought some painful constraints, around finances and other matters entirely out of our control. For 2024, I’d like to add a pinch of positivity to my first Editor’s Letter of the year. It goes against every dour, Northern molecule in my body to be optimistic, but for every downbeat conversation I had in 2023, each person I spoke to also had something exciting to tell me about what comes next – and boy, there’s a lot to come in 2024! Take 3D printing, for example: the additive manufacturing market has seen a lot go wrong for it. At many companies in the sector, those pesky fiscal wolves are howling at the door. With the VC brigade now reluctant to throw them yet another bag of cash, we’re likely to see some slowdown in that sector. Yet there’s still a lot of exciting things happening at those companies that have all their ducks in a row. And we provide plenty of evidence in this issue of DEVELOP3D. There’s our trends round-up, gleaned from our recent visit to Formnext; SJ’s view on the situation as an additive engineer working at the coalface; Ryse 3D’s progress in building its own path to glory in automotive; and an excellent article by John Kawola, on how his employer, Boston Micro Fabrication (BMF) is finding exciting new use cases for micro 3D printing. On this issue’s cover, we feature Wheel.Me, a Norwegian company looking to increase automation in manufacturing and warehousing by converting existing infrastructure into mobile robots – bog-standard factory shelving units and carts, essentially, with a robotic wheel added to each corner. We’ve seen a lot of robotic handling solutions in our time, but by designing a smart wheel, rather than a trolley and gantry system, Wheel.Me adds versatility and lowers initial investment costs, flipping standards on their head through excellent design. So I’m setting that as our mantra for 2024: Making things happen through clever design. If you’re working on a project that fits this vision, then please drop me a line. I’d love to hear more.
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CONTENTS DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 ISSUE NO. 143
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NEWS Intel aims to accelerate AI with new Core Ultra processors, Autodesk puts AI front and centre, and new Varjo headsets promise ‘best experience yet’
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FEATURES Comment: Joanne Ward on societal contribution Comment: SJ on 3D printing’s next steps Visual Design Guide: Candela P-12 flying passenger ship COVER STORY Wheel.Me rolls out its latest design Event report: Five key trends from Formnext 2023 Eschbal sheds new light on more sustainable 3D printing Open wide: Mikrona develops new dental tools Event report: AI in the spotlight at Autodesk University Opinion: Andres Rodriguez-Villa on CAE interoperability BMF’s John Kawola on making it big in micro 3D printing Top model: JFD’s eye-catching exhibition stand turns heads Ryse 3D’s unique approach to AM for automotive clients Ricoh redesigns its Theta camera with nTop s
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REVIEW 48 Mobile Pixels Geminos monitor
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50 THE LAST WORD Mass customisation was one of the biggest promises made for 3D printing, writes Stephen Holmes, but a distinct lack 20 September 2023 of demand for personalised products is forcing a more Centre,manufacturing UK common-senseWarwick approachArts to additive
2024
19 September 2024 develop3dlive.com
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NEWS NEWS
INTEL CORE ULTRA PROCESSORS LAUNCH TO ACCELERATE AI ON ULTRA SLIM LAPTOPS » New processors include dedicated neural processing units (NPUs) and beefed-up integrated Intel Arc GPUs to reduce reliance on discrete GPUs
I
ntel has launched the Intel Core Ultra, its first laptop processor to include a neural processing unit (NPU) specifically designed for AI acceleration. Intel Core Ultra comprises two product families: the Core Ultra H-Series and Core Ultra U-Series. Both processors are likely to find their way into ultra-portable mobile workstations in 2024. The H-Series features up to 16 cores, comprising Performance cores (P-Cores), Efficient cores (E-Cores) and new Low Power Efficient (LPE) cores, for very lightweight tasks. There’s also a built-in Intel Arc GPU and an Intel AI Boost NPU, all within a base power of 28W and a max turbo power of 115W. The top-end Intel Core Ultra 7 185H processor features 6P, 8E and 2LP cores, and has a max P-Core frequency of 5.1 GHz. Intel executives bigged up the graphics performance of the new integrated Intel Arc
GPU, developed with a view to reducing the need for a discrete GPU in some workflows. With the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H, Intel claims gaming performance is between 9% and 100% faster than with the Intel Core i7-1370P, a comparable processor from the previous generation. How this translates to performance in 3D CAD and other professional 3D applications remains to be seen. This will also depend on software optimisations, and we expect mobile workstations with Intel Core Ultra processors to include Intel Arc Pro GPU drivers. The Intel Core Ultra U-Series uses much less power with a base power of 15W and a max power of 57W. It achieves this by reducing the number of P-Cores to two, while retaining the same number of E and LP cores. In single-threaded CAD workflows, performance shouldn’t be far off that of the H-Series. However, users
can expect significantly lower multithreaded performance. The U-Series also has less powerful Intel graphics. The top-end Intel Core Ultra 7 165U has a max P-Core frequency of 4.9 GHz. It wouldn’t be a 2023 processor launch without shouting about AI — and Intel Core Ultra is all about bringing AI inferencing to laptops. Intel states that the new chip is GenAI ready and has three AI engines: CPU, GPU and NPU. The NPU is designed for sustained AI workloads and to offload AI to increase battery life. Meanwhile, the GPU is for AI-accelerated digital content creation and the CPU for low-latency AI workloads. It's still very early days for AI in product development, but Intel highlighted the importance of software compatibility, stating that its AI PC Acceleration Program now has more than 100 independent software vendors (ISVs), including Epic Games (Unreal Engine), and more than 300 AI-accelerated features that will be ‘uniquely optimised’ for Intel Core Ultra processors. This is three times more AI apps and frameworks than any competing silicon vendor, according to Intel. Meanwhile, Intel has also launched its 5th Gen Intel Xeon ‘Emerald Rapids’ processors, with up to 64 cores. These high-end chips are designed primarily for servers and cloud, but will likely find their way into dual-socket workstations, such as the Lenovo ThinkStation PX. Intel did not announce any new workstation-specific Xeon processors to follow on from the 'Sapphire Rapids' Intel Xeon W-3400 Series which launched last year. www.intel.com
AI tops the bill at Autodesk University 2023 event in Las Vegas
A
utodesk AI was the star attraction at Autodesk University 2023 and hailed by company executives as a technology that will bring new intelligent assistance and generative capabilities to Autodesk’s Design and Make platform. Debuting in Autodesk’s automotive design studio tools, Generative AI for conceptual design leans on Autodesk’s recent acquisition of BlankAI, adding generative AI technology to augment the work of designers, enabling them to create 3D concepts “in milliseconds”.
Autodesk says that the technology can pull files from a company’s libraries of previous work in order to rapidly generate entirely new concepts that comply with and build on existing corporate design styles and guidelines. “As the trusted technology partner for design and make industries, Autodesk sees AI as a way for our customers to tackle the challenges they face and turn them into opportunities,” said Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost, speaking at the event. “AI is the future of design and make, and Autodesk is pioneering this transition. We sit at the junction of many of the
most creative and impactful industries in the world. We’ll continue to invest in AI, because of its transformational potential to drive better outcomes for our customers’ businesses and the world.” Meanwhile, Autodesk Fusion will also utilise AI across every phase of the product development lifecycle, the company said. The first Autodesk software to introduce generative design for manufacturing over six years ago, AI will unlock in Fusion “all kinds of opportunities to automate repetitive processes, analyse shop floor operations and augment creativity“. www.autodesk.com
8 DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 DEVELOP3D.COM
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NEWS
NEW VARJO XR-4 HEADSETS PROMISE BEST EXPERIENCE YET
Vrgineers unveils new MR HMDs
V
rgineers has announced its new XTAL 3 CAVU (Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited) mixed reality (MR) headset, featuring advanced AMD and Nvidia capabilities for rapid visual processing. The two full RGB fast-switching 4K LCD displays, allowing 120 Hz @ QHD per eye, utilise 24 MP image sensors connected to a Xilinx FPGA PCIe16x card – technology acquired by AMD – via optical cables. Vrgineers states that all its products are TAA-certified, in order to comply with strict security regulations for deployment in restricted areas. www.vrgineers.com
V
arjo has launched its next generation XR-4 series headsets, the XR-4, XR-4 Focal Edition and XR-4 Secure Edition. The company claims that the new products offer virtual and mixed reality experiences that are "practically indistinguishable from natural sight". The headsets feature Varjo’s highest resolution displays, foveated capture streams, advanced LiDAR depth sensing and camera sensors and are powered by Nvidia RTX Ada Generation GPUs, including the A6000. The XR-4 Focal Edition has all the features of the XR-4, with the addition of gaze-directed autofocus cameras and more optimised camera resolution for pilot training and other cockpit-based use cases.
Both the XR-4 and XR-4 Focal Edition can go completely offline, are TAA-compliant, non-RF and assembled in Finland. Dual 4K x 4K displays give a resolution of 51 pixels per degree (ppd) and over 50% wider field of view (120 x 105 degrees) compared to previous devices, with double the display brightness (200 nits) and wider colour gamut with 96% DCI-P3. The new features don’t stop there, with dual 20 Mpx cameras that power highfidelity, real-time photorealistic video pass-through for mixed reality, and new ambient light sensors and 8x improved LiDAR resolution that blends real and virtual elements. Pricing starts at $3,990. These HMDs are immediately available for enterprise orders, with shipping to customers scheduled to begin in December 2023. www.varjo.com
The new Varjo XR-4 HMDs are available immediately for enterprise customers
L
uminary Cloud, creator of a new cloud-native computer aided engineering (CAE) platform, Realtime Engineering, has licensed Siemens’ Parasolid software. Realtime Engineering was developed to speed up engineering cycles and get insights faster, according to company executives. Embedding the Parasolid geometric modelling kernal will enable Luminary Cloud to access and manipulate native CAD models from the large 3D data ecosystem, providing a reliable path to optimising user designs. www.luminarycloud.com
New HDR Light Studio plug-in from Lightmap
L
ightmap has developed a new plug-in for HDR Light Studio, which links to Unreal Engine and enables users to light any scene in the visualisation software using a comprehensive suite of tools. With the HDR Light Studio Unreal Connection Plug-in, users can very precisely position lights within the interactive SkyLight HDRI and in 3D for full studio-quality renders. Once the plug-in is opened in a live link with Unreal, the Unreal rendered viewport is streamed into HDR Light Studio’s interface. Users can focus on lighting the shot inside HDR Light Studio, and their work will be synced in real time with Unreal. The HDR Light Studio project data is also synced and embedded in the Unreal project file.
Luminary Cloud licenses Parasolid
SolidX enters UK reseller market
S The plug-in is compatible with HDR Light Studio 8.1.1 and higher (Windows only) and requires an HDR Light Studio Automotive license. Existing customers using HDR Light Studio Automotive licenses can download and use the Unreal Engine plugin straight away. www.lightmap.co.uk
The new Lightmap plug-in requires an HDR Light Studio Automotive license
olidworks reseller SolidX has launched in the UK, promising its customers greater transparency over Solidworks product pricing, support and training services. Founded by an experienced team of VAR professionals, the company is promoting itself as offering a “fresh approach”. For example, it displays prices for all of its Solidworks packages and offers customers its own range of online training resources. “For modern agile product development, customers need to move fast — and this includes knowing the price of what they want to purchase quickly,” said SolidX director Matt Parfitt. www.solidx.co.uk
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LENOVO THINKSTATION P8 GETS ZEN 4 THREADRIPPER BOOST
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enovo has launched the ThinkStation P8, a new desktop workstation that puts AMD’s new Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000 WXSeries processors front and centre. The new machine shares the exact same chassis as the ThinkStation P7, which launched earlier this year with a choice of Intel Xeon W-3400 Series processors up to 56 cores. Both workstations feature an Aston Martin-inspired black and red design, the result of a collaboration with the legendary automaker. The front grill, thermodynamics and side panel flush handle, for example, are heavily influenced by the UK sports cars. The ThinkStation P8 probably gets its elevated status because it can offer significantly more CPU cores than the ThinkStation P7 (96 versus 56), and on paper, it looks like it will perform better in a whole range of workflows. It comes with a choice of AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000 WX-Series processors with 12, 16, 24, 32, 64 or 96 cores. The new processors not only offer buckets of cores to accelerate highly multi-threaded applications like ray trace rendering, video editing and simulation, but they can also hit high frequencies to cater to single-threaded applications like CAD. For example, even with 96 cores, the top-end Threadripper Pro 7995WX processor boasts a boost frequency of 5.1GHz, which is only 0.6 GHz behind AMD’s top-end consumer processor, the 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. The ThinkStation P8 can be fitted with up to three dual-slot pro GPUs, including the
Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada Generation, or up to four single-slot GPUs. It can be configured with up to 1 TB of DDR5 memory (up to 5,200 MHz). The machine delivers maximum memory bandwidth when all eight DIMM slots are filled. For storage, the ThinkStation P8 supports a variety of form factors: M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs up to 4 TB, U.3 PCIe NVMe SSDs up to 15.3TB and 3.5-inch SATA HDDs up to 12TB. It comes with two RJ-45 Ethernet ports (Gigabit and 10 Gigabit) and the Wi-Fi antenna is built into the chassis. The ThinkStation P8 was built from the ground up to be ‘rack optimised’ and offers several features to transform the 4U desktop machine into what Lenovo describes as a ‘hybrid cloud workstation’, with remote management capabilities like those found in rack servers. www.lenovo.com
Lenovo's Thinkstation P8 delivers bucketloads of processing power
EDAG Group is set to inaugurate a Zero Prototype Lab, a driving dynamics simulator centre in Wolfsburg, Germany, where vehicle designs can be tested by humans before they are built. The laboratory is expected to open in the first quarter of 2024 www.edag.com
Renishaw has signed a twoyear contract with green energy company Ecotricity to supply its main UK sites with 100% renewable energy, as it seeks to further reduce emissions relating to its business activities and purchased energy (Scope 1 & 2) and achieve Net Zero by 2050 www.renishaw.com
A
accelerators and a second gen ray tracing (RT) accelerator. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, the Radeon Pro W7700 plugs a previous gap in the market that lay between the 8GB Radeon Pro W7600 and the 32GB Radeon Pro W7800. www.amd.com
Generative Engineering has raised a €4m pre-seed round led by EQT Ventures. The funds will be used to develop a platform to increase the efficiency of engineers. The founders have a solid track record in software and cloud solutions, as well as scaling hardware businesses www.generative.vision
Dubai-based Leap 71 has open-sourced its foundational computational design technology, its voxelbased geometry kernel PicoGK and its library for simple shape generation, ShapeKernel. Together, these technologies form the basis of the company’s computational engineering models www.leap71.com
AMD launches Radeon Pro W7700 GPU MD has introduced the Radeon Pro W7700, a new addition to its Radeon Pro 7000 Series of professional workstation GPUs. It is being billed as the most powerful pro GPU for under $1,000. The new GPU comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and boasts 32 TFLOPs of peak single precision performance. This is only a little shy of the 35.66 TFLOPs on offer in the Radeon Pro W6800, the flagship pro GPU from AMD’s previous generation. The Radeon Pro W7700 is a full-height, dual-slot graphics card, and is designed to fit in standard desktop tower workstations. With a total board power of 190W, it requires an 8-pin power connector. The GPU features 48 unified RDNA 3 compute units, each of which has 64 dual-issue stream processors, two AI
ROUND UP
The Radeon Pro W7700 is designed for standard desktop tower workstations
3D printing company Stratasys is due to start shipping its recently previewed F3300, a largeformat FDM 3D printer that boasts increased gantry speeds, faster extrusion rates, autocalibration and a claimed 25% increase in accuracy, at the beginning of 2024 www.stratasys.com
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COMMENT
Business can be a powerful force for good in the world and product designers have a unique role to play in ensuring that new products contribute to positive changes in society, writes Joanne Ward of Collective Change
Y
ou would have to be living in a very remote part of the world not to notice the recent renewal of focus in the media on sustainability and social impact. What was once the realm of community activists has now become one of the top agenda items for decision-makers. As Social Enterprise UK CEO Peter Holbrook CBE recently said: “Procurement is changing, and in choosing the kind of business you want to work with, you help create the kind of world you want to live in.” The mood is changing fast and social impact is now regarded as an essential part of business strategy. Product design has a significant role to play. It’s a powerful tool that extends far beyond aesthetics and functionality. In an era of pressing global challenges, designers have a unique opportunity to contribute to positive social change. By adopting a more conscious and purposedriven approach, they can shape solutions that address critical issues: sustainability, accessibility and social equity. One of the most significant ways designers can drive social impact is by prioritising sustainable materials and production processes. The extraction and manufacturing of materials often have far-reaching environmental and social consequences. By opting for sustainable materials and considering the entire lifecycle of a product, designers can reduce resource consumption, minimise waste and mitigate environmental harm. Incorporating recycled or upcycled materials not only conserves resources, but also contributes to a circular economy, promoting sustainability in the long run. Second, inclusive and accessible design can be at the core of every product designer’s ethos. Creating products that are accessible to all individuals, regardless of age, disability or background, is crucial for fostering social equity.
This might involve designing user interfaces with clear, intuitive navigation, or developing products with adjustable features to accommodate a wider range of users. By prioritising inclusivity, designers can contribute to a more inclusive society, in which everyone has equal access to products and services. Third, product designers have a unique role to play in addressing humanitarian and crisis response needs. From designing easily deployable emergency shelters to creating innovative medical equipment for disaster relief, designers can directly impact the lives of those affected by crises. By focusing on practical, durable and easily transportable solutions, they can contribute to saving lives and providing essential support during times of adversity.
DIVERSITY AND DESIGN Also, cultural diversity is essential for creating products that have a positive social impact. Considering the local contexts, traditions and preferences of distinct communities ensures that products are valued and sought after, while avoiding cultural insensitivity. Designers have the power to influence education through the creation of educational products and tools to make learning more engaging, accessible and effective. Products that empower individuals by enhancing their skills, independence and economic opportunities contribute to positive social change. For example, designing low-cost, easy-to-use agricultural tools for small-scale farmers, can improve livelihoods and wellbeing. Product designers can act as advocates for social causes by using their platforms to raise awareness about pressing issues. Designers have a unique ability to communicate complex ideas and inspire action through their creations. By designing products that serve as symbols or convey powerful messages, designers can spark conversations about important topics.
By adopting a more conscious and purpose-driven approach, product designers have the opportunity to shape solutions that address critical issues: sustainability, accessibility and social equity
Finally, by demonstrating accountable, traceable and transparent corporate social responsibility, a business can appeal to those who share its vision, mission and values, and who care about the social impact of their choices. This can lead to attracting and retaining the best talent and securing new customers and building customer loyalty. By embracing a holistic approach that considers sustainability, inclusivity, humanitarian needs, cultural sensitivity, education and advocacy, designers can create products that generate meaningful social impact. Through the generation of innovative and purposeful designs, they have the potential to contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and inclusive world. As the guardians of creativity, product designers hold the key to unlocking solutions that address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. In the words of Mary Portas: “The change ahead is not about contraction or limitation. It’s about creation, innovation and imagination. It’s not about putting off our Net Zero goals to supposedly help the economy get back on its feet. A carbonneutral economy is the new economy.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joanne Ward is an experienced and passionate advocate for social businesses. In 2020, she set up Collective Change, with a mission to help purposeful organisations attract investment, support and customers by defining, measuring and effectively communicating their impact. www.collectivechange.co.uk DEVELOP3D.COM DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024 13
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COMMENT
Reports of 3D printing’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, writes our columnist SJ. Government support for advanced manufacturing is on its way, offering new opportunities for companies to explore additive methods
H
old back on filling your glasses for now! I don’t think it’s time just yet to drink a toast to mark the sad passing of our dear friend 3D printing. But everywhere I look, I’m seeing articles reporting its demise. Time is up for 3D printing, the headlines say. May it rest in peace. Yes, the mood does feel very grim in this industry right now. Opportunistic investors have moved on, to lavish their attention instead on artificial intelligence. The investment free-flow that 3D printing previously saw has dried up. Opportunities for innovation are decreasing, while lay-offs are on the rise. And a weird cycle of merger and acquisition activity is certainly going to make for some awkward ‘family’ dynamics during this year’s holiday season. But I’m here to tell you that all is not lost. And if, like me, you’re in the industry, there’s a 99% chance that none of this is your fault anyway.
WE’VE COME A LONG WAY The fact is that previous levels of investment in 3D printing came from investors who were living in a completely different world from ours. These investors are perpetually looking for the next Uber or the next Apple. They don’t care about your product, or the solutions you provide. They simply want the biggest, fastest return on their investment. In case I’m not being clear, let me spell it out for you, especially for those of you working at start-ups: you were never set up for success. These investors never intended for yours to be a thriving, healthy company, or else they would have focused more on employees and less on profit. Instead, they gave you chump change and expected you to build complex hardware in the form of multi-million-dollar additive machines with accompanying high-end software. It was a big ask. And I think we all need to
acknowledge that it wasn’t a fair one. Imagine what we could have achieved, had we been given more resources, more support, more mentorship, more time. When I was younger, and would get frustrated that I wasn’t old enough, or tall enough, or smart enough to achieve some task, chore or sporting achievement, my mother would always remind me of the idiom: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” In fact, if you’re curious, it took 1,229 years. To put the problem into perspective, consider that additive manufacturing is still only 36 years old. It’s still in its infancy, really. So let’s all have some compassion for ourselves. For our growth. We’ve accomplished so much and still have so much further to go.
BREAKING THE BOTTLENECK In my opinion, not all hope is lost. It’s just stuck in traffic. My latest career move, which has propelled me into the world of aerospace, has drastically altered my view of how 3D printing fits into manufacturing. In short, my outlook is still positive, pending more government support for advanced manufacturing technologies — where additive undoubtedly has a huge role to play. The necessary funding may take a while to arrive, certainly. The United Kingdom formalised and announced its additive manufacturing strategy around 2018, with a heavy focus on supply chains, skills and standards. The United States has finally begun to find its footing, too, with a strategy released in 2022, in response to pandemic-induced supply chain woes. This focuses on developing and implementing advanced manufacturing, building up the workforce and reducing supply chain vulnerabilities. And both the US and the UK economies can boast many non-profits and private/ public partnership-type entities on a mission to ensure that government funding
My outlook is still positive, pending more government support for advanced manufacturing technologies — where additive undoubtedly has a huge role to play
gets where it needs to go: to companies, projects, technologies, universities and so on. But these organisations are just the middlemen. The main bottleneck, as always, is the traffic jam of bureaucracy. So some entities may well have been approved to award millions of dollars — but only as soon as the money actually hits their account. And it will only arrive once government officials come to consensus and pass legislation on funding for the next year, or the next approval cycle. It’s very frustrating having to wait on such an extended timeline when you have employees to pay and fast-moving, innovative competitors. In fact, it might even seem that making a deal with some shady investor might provide some muchneeded, short-term respite. But woah there: that’s starting to sound eerily familiar. It’s a toxic story that keeps repeating itself. (Yes, dear readers, I am leaning in and giving you a cheeky wink.) I can confidently say that investment is certainly on the way. It’s coming. Additive manufacturing has been clearly labelled as a critical technology by governments worldwide. How long it takes that money to reach the industry, where it can actually be put to work, I cannot say. But until then, sit tight and instead pour a drink for yourself. You’ve certainly earned it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: SJ is a metal additive engineer aka THEE Hottie of Metal Printing. SJ’s work involves providing additive manufacturing solutions and 3D printing of metal parts to help create a decarbonised world.
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VISUAL DESIGN GUIDE CANDELA P-12
INTERIORS OPTIONS There are three options for the P-12’s LOW OPERATIONAL COSTS
interior. ‘Shuttle’ is designed for 30 commuters, with space for bicycles and wheelchairs. ‘Business’ is a premium interior, offering seating for 12 to 20 passengers. The ‘Voyager’ set-up is fully customisable, according to the buyer’s specific needs
Two electric C-POD motors require minimal servicing. The vessel is designed for single-crew operation, which further slashes operation costs
COAST TO COAST With a modest 252 kWh battery delivering a range of up to 50 nautical miles at 25 knots, the ship has the endurance to cover most coastal transport needs
FLYING HIGH The Candela P-12’s hydrofoils elevate its hull above water friction and reduce energy consumption by 80% over traditional high-speed vessels
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The world’s first electric ‘flying’ passenger ship has gone into production in Stockholm, with the aim of providing a more sustainable way to navigate urban and coastal waterways
LOW TURBULENCE The vessel’s minimal wake qualifies it for exemption from waterway speed limits, as it will neither erode coastlines nor damage docks and moored ships, even at full speed
SMOOTH CROSSING A digital ‘flight control system’ compensates for waves, side winds and currents by adjusting each hydrofoil’s angle of attack some 100 times per second in order to achieve a smooth ride
PORT VERSATILITY An extendable bow ramp adjusts to allow the P-12 to dock at varying quay heights, ranging from 0.3 to 1.8 metres. This versatility means it can serve a multitude of ports globally without the need for dock alterations
COST & AVAILABILITY The Candela P-12 Shuttle is set to join Stockholm’s public transport network in 2024. Prices for the P-12 start from €1.7 million www.candela.com
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REINVENTING » Robotics company Wheel.Me hopes to transform how goods, equipment and objects are moved across factory floors. Stephen Holmes takes a look at the company’s latest product, the Genius 2, and learns what keeps its iterative design process rolling forward
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COVER STORY
NG THE WHEEL
The Genius 2 from Wheel.Me is looking to transform factory and warehouse automation
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COVER STORY
M
aterial handling is a big part of the activity on any factory floor. At facilities without conveyor lines, gantry systems or high-cost automated trolley set-ups, much of this movement must be carried out by (human) hand. That can be time-consuming, resource-intensive and risky for health and safety. And even forklifts and pickers require experienced operators and regular maintenance. Norwegian robotics company Wheel.Me wants to solve these industry challenges and change the status quo of manufacturing. In 2018, it introduced Genius, the world’s first autonomous wheel. An updated version, Genius 2, has just hit the market. With Genius, you can add wheels to just about anything, transforming that object into an autonomous mobile robot. The product combines robotic components, indoor navigation technology and data analytics, but also simplicity, since companies can add wheels to whatever they already have, such as racks, trolleys and carts. With Wheel.Me, these can run between points autonomously and without the need to make expensive infrastructure changes. The market has responded with excitement, boosting Wheel.Me’s growth. In the last two years, the company has grown its employee base by more than 400% and opened offices in four cities across Europe and North America. Its internal departments – from production lines to customer support – have needed to scramble to keep pace.
1 CHOOSING DIRECTION In its early stages, a key challenge for Wheel.Me was to define its product and identify what would be needed to build the hardware. It was a process of trial, error and iteration, all conducted while moving at start-up pace to get the first product to market. A change of camera, sensor or chip could mean the beginning of a whole new testing cycle, and involve the design team working around the clock to make the new part fit. Much of Wheel.Me’s innovative, custom-built hardware was defined by customer feedback. As Wheel.Me head of mechanical engineering, Casper Rødsrud, puts it: “Mechatronics is not just mechanics. It’s not just robotics. It is the intersection of everything. So I think the biggest challenge was to properly understand the requirements for the product.” Some of that comes down to the environment in which the product will work. Here, it needs to be incredibly versatile, which adds to the complexity of designing it. Some factories are modern and spacious, with smooth floors almost like clean rooms. Others have been in operation for centuries, with cracked floors and other idiosyncrasies. Traffic flow is also an issue, depending on the number of forklifts and telehandlers moving from station to station. Much of the Genius 2’s agility is enabled by its Mecanum wheel design – an independent, non-steering drive wheel with its own powertrain – which creates an omnidirectional platform so that a load can be manoeuvred precisely in tight spaces.
1 Installation and ●
automation costs are greatly lowered when users can attach Genius 2 to existing material handling racks and trolleys
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‘‘ Instead of
relying on simulations and calculations, we need to move fast. So instead, we would rather make prototypes and test them in real life Casper Rødsrud, Wheel.Me head of mechanical engineering
’’
“In the beginning, it was a fully manual wheel,” explains Rødsrud. “It clicked in and clicked out, like a ballpoint pen. You lift a piece of furniture, and the wheel is out. You lift it again and the wheel is back in.” The team continued to experiment with new concepts: motorised wheels, self-stabilising wheels, and then finally, autonomous wheels. While solving lots of problems, the Mecanum wheel also created new challenges for the design team. It needed angled external rollers for grip, for example, and axles that provided the right fit. Other issues for the design team to address included load weight, managing traction and powering the wheel while maintaining a small form factor.
challenges, as the company found itself switching mid-stream between software packages. At first, it used Autodesk Fusion 360, then switched to Solidworks, before finally taking up the Siemens Mechanical Design package along with Teamcenter. The need for larger complex assemblies and better collaboration between its mechanical design and electrical design teams saw it sometimes hampered by incompatible software. According to Rødsrud, “We realised that we needed more than just bits and pieces from different software suppliers, but better integrated solutions and somewhere where we could get the full picture.” Solid Edge is predominantly used, with the package’s access to NX a distinct advantage. “It’s the flexibility that is key,” explains Rødsrud, “and knowing that we can do INTERNAL DESIGN concept designs in Solid Edge, then move to NX during The majority of components are custom-built, and all in-depth design was important for an agile team.” designed in-house, even the Mecanum wheel with its According to the head mechanical engineer, the team integrated BLDC motor. “We’ve had assistance when especially appreciated the adaptability of the synchronous designing these things,” explains Rødsrud. “We’ve talked environment in Siemens, and the ability it gave the team to motor manufacturers, talked to gear manufacturers, to edit parts in assemblies. “It’s one of the things that I and worked with real professionals. But, right now, we really think is super cool!” have created mass production tools for almost every single The ability to work with multibody parts, and the part that we have. So we have got to a point where it’s not capabilities in the product to do thermal analysis and that big of a headache anymore, but it for sure used to be!” structural simulations were also key advantages of the Getting to that point took a lot of time and effort, he says, Siemens solution. but it was beneficial to have created most of the parts from “Once we landed on the whole Siemens package, it also scratch, as it offers the development team the control it allowed us to implement a PLM system, Teamcenter, needs to ensure that everything works in synergy. which allows us to do very, very thorough version “It’s an interesting question to ask yourself whether it control,” continues Rødsrud. would have taken less time if we actually had used a lot “So right now, we’re building up workflows for both more off-the-shelf components. But on the other hand, release and change management. All these processes are it’s quite cool to sit here and say that everything you see in very focused at the moment, just to make sure that we this product is designed in-house.” know what changes we are making to the product, and Developing the 3D CAD model came with its own why. And we also know how long they will take and how they will affect every other part.” The biggest advantage with Teamcenter is its control over releasing datasets. “We can release one version to production, and then we can continue to work in parallel on the next iteration, where we can take into account some of the feedback that we’ve gotten along the way. And then we can schedule the next release for the physical product,” says Rødsrud.
AGILE MOVEMENT
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Iteration has been key to the development of Genius 2. “You obviously have a lot of loops and a lot of iterations back and forth, up and down,” explains Rødsrud. “No development process is linear. Everything is agile.” Rødsrud says that a lot of this comes down to taking the design off the screen and building physical prototypes.
2 ● 3 Packed full of ●
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technology, the design of the Genius 2 features IMU sensors, depth cameras and LIDAR
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‘‘ Mechatronics “Building a physical product is never easy, because you is not just mechanics, it’s not just robotics. It is the intersection of everything Casper Rødsrud, Wheel.Me head of mechanical engineering
’’
realise a lot when you first have it in your hands. It’s not necessarily that easy to see all of the challenges and things you need to fix when you have it in your CAD programme or simulations or whatever. You really need to get it out as a prototype.” The team has wheels rolling every single day, with in-house prototypes, beta models in the field and previous generation Genius robots being monitored by Wheel.Me’s deployment teams, who work closely with customers and get their feedback. This provides the development team with valuable information that must be swiftly analysed and then adopted into the new design. “And sometimes, there are some hiccups, and we use those hiccups to also learn more about the product and what we need to improve,” says Rødsrud. With an on-site machine shop at its disposal, the design and engineering team also runs a print farm in-house that is stacked with Bambu Labs X1E FDM 3D printers. Additionally, the team has also just acquired a Formlabs Fuse SLS 3D printer. Hopefully, the company got a hefty discount on this machine, Rødsrud jokes, since Wheel.Me CEO Stefan Hollaender is a former EMEA managing director of Formlabs. “That one is great,” says Rødsrud, praising the Fuse. “It allows us to create very detailed prototypes as well, so that we can actually test the interfaces and functions of things that we want to test. Instead of relying on simulations and calculations, we need to move fast. So instead we would rather make prototypes and test them in real life.” A proficient in-house prototyping set-up means the team can build test rigs and jigs for the Genius 2, testing elements like material properties, robot loads and wheel endurance, right through to an end-of-line jig, which runs lots of tests consecutively on an end product to ensure everything works before it gets shipped to the customer. The last 12 months at Wheel.Me have been about getting the Genius 2 into production. That’s seen the development team move away from prototyping methods and low-volume test units and embrace
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4 Based a little over one hour away ●
from the company’s Oslo headquarters, the Wheel.Me factory is now ramping up production 5 ● 6 The physical proximity of design, ●
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engineering, manufacturing and assembly teams means that Wheel. Me can work quickly to incorporate feedback
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COVER STORY 7 These prototypes ●
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high-volume production. This means shifting from machined parts for the suspension system to casted parts and cutting injection moulding tools for all of the product’s plastic parts. Wheel.Me’s factory and assembly plant is located just over an hour’s drive away from its headquarters in Oslo. The engineering team visits the plant at least once a week, helping its members see immediately what is working and what needs more work. Rødsrud adds that these visits help them get the perspective of the operators and build teams on how the robot could be designed better for easier assembly. This goes as far as inspiring new ideas for simple 3D-printed jigs and fixtures that may assist with the complex business of manufacturing, while also costing relatively little to produce. The communication flow between the engineering and factory teams is great, he says, adding that any faulty parts are immediately flagged up to the designers, helping maintain the highest quality assurance.
CLOSE CONTROL With overarching control of their product – from design through to engineering, software, prototyping,
showcase the iterative design process that led to today’s Genius 2, including its innovative Mecanum wheel (top centre)
manufacture and assembly – this closed loop has helped Wheel.Me build a super-honed end product. The complexity of maintaining this control may have added to its workload, but the team is adamant that agility is still the key driver in its process. “For us, it’s key to be quick as well,” says Rødsrud. “Because if we spent too long dwelling on one challenge, we would maybe lose our spot in the market and be overtaken by someone else. We need to be quick, we need to get our products out there and also be ready to do quick iterations when we get the proper feedback from the market.” He predicts that the growth that the company is currently experiencing isn’t likely to let up soon, so scalability of both processes and infrastructure are critical. “The demand is just going to continue to blow up,” he says. “We have people knocking on our doors. They want wheels and they want to install wheels everywhere, on everything.” The ability of the Genius 2 to move swiftly and manoeuvre with precision, no matter the load, is something reflected in the development team at Wheel.Me as it strives to progress manufacturing, one wheel at a time. www.wheel.me
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Sponsored content
Unik Metal Leverages Configurations in Autodesk Fusion To Design and Build Custom Architectural Components See how Unik Metal uses configurations in Autodesk Fusion to iterate quickly and recieve customer validation. By: Emily Suzuki
C
ustomisation in architecture and interior design projects adds an extra dimension of complexity to an already complex process. A combination of creativity, accuracy, and open, clear communication with clients is vital to a successful outcome. Unik Metal is a company that understands these challenges all too well. The Waterloo-based fabrication studio specialises in a range of custom architectural components, including staircases, metal guardrails, glass walls, and more. Its projects range from personal residences to commercial spaces. Each space Unik Metal works with has vastly different dimensions and lends itself to multiple potential design outcomes. Founder Francis Deslauriers points out that when creating a staircase, there are so many routes his team could take depending on the space: a glass wall guardrail, a steel guardrail, no guardrail, different color options, a straight or curved design, a design that connects to a wall, a design that doesn’t connect to a wall—the list goes on. Beyond varying spatial constraints, a successful design hinges on client sign-off, which often takes multiple rounds of revisions once a design is selected. Going through multiple rounds of client feedback also means switching back and forth between multiple design options.
Deslauriers is a member of the Fusion Insider Program, so he received early access to test configurations in Fusion ahead of their launch. Configurations provide an intelligent way to create and manage multiple design variations from a single, unified model, enabling unprecedented flexibility to design and manufacturing workflows. Soon after testing configurations, Deslauriers decided to make the tool an integral part of his team’s workflow. Unlocking adaptability with configurations in Fusion Working with multiple design files gets complicated quickly and can lead to dimensional errors or other mistakes during the design process. While on-site, configurations in Autodesk Fusion help Deslauriers ensure all design options fit dimensionally in the space without having to create and edit multiple separate design files. The Unik Metal team creates each configuration in just a couple of minutes depending on the complexity, which saves time and keeps things organised. Once ready, they send the options straight to the customer for review using the Fusion web viewer. “You simply send a link, and they can view the design in real-time. There’s no need to use an app or anything. Customers, interior designers, and architects love it,” says Deslauriers. The team also works on architectural products outside of the staircase realm where they have to create a cohesive look between different structures. Configurations help them reuse parts across multiple products and explore different aesthetic possibilities within the same collection to maintain that cohesive design language. “Configurations allow me to work on an entire product line inside of one design,” says Deslauriers. “It’s really valuable to be able to see how different parts interact and how we can reuse them.”
Leveraging Autodesk Fusion The Unik Metal team relies on Autodesk Fusion throughout their entire design process, including installation drawings, sheet metal nesting, and creating bills of materials. The collaboration opportunities and sharing links for design updates and reviews have made a big difference in working with clients. “Our customers are really fascinated that they can actually see what’s going to be built to scale and what it’s going to look like,” says Deslauriers. “When they see the design in Fusion, it really gives them Learn more about Autodesk Fusion by more confidence of what will be manufactured.” scanning the QR code.
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Our customers are really fascinated that they can actually see what’s going to be built to scale and what it’s going to look like. When they see the design in Fusion, it really gives them more confidence of what will be manufactured.” Francis Deslauriers, founder, Unik Metal
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FEATURE
FORMNEXT: FIVE TRENDS Where is 3D printing heading? At DEVELOP3D, we talk a lot about this technology in product design: first, for its use in prototyping, but increasingly, as a way to build end-use parts. Perhaps the best place in the world to get an overarching sense of the current state of play in the sector is Formnext, where four huge spaces in Frankfurt’s Messe Halle are packed with polymer and metal systems capable of delivering miraculous results. With just a handful of days to cover the event, it’s entirely possible we missed some aspects of the action. But some clear patterns certainly emerged. Here, Stephen Holmes identifies five key trends from the event and what they could mean for design and engineering
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FINDING A NICHE
While hardly on its arse, there is a sense that the maturing industry is fast running out of gimmicks. Throwing more lasers at a problem, wittering on about sustainability, or selling a machine built from someone else’s expired patents can only go so far. Additive manufacturing is tightening its belt as investors lose interest and patience, and start to direct their lustful glances at artificial intelligence (AI) instead. The need to generate real money from 3D printer sales is biting hard. For many companies – those ones that are not still flogging the 2014 playbook of a ‘machine for all seasons’ – pinpointing some truly niche applications may be the best way to keep money flowing in and raising awareness of what their technology offers potential buyers.
Frankly, this is a massive relief. In the right hands, some additive technologies are capable of pure witchcraft, offering huge time and cost savings, unleashing designers and engineers from the shackles of old workflows, and allowing them to get stuck in to new and exciting projects. Today, there shouldn’t be a single factory that doesn’t boast at least a few 3D printers of its own. They might be using them to produce custom end effectors, grippers, suction pads, new tooling or simply to replace dumb parts on demand when they wear out. Sexy? No. Dollar signs? Yes. Food processing, rail spares, everyday electrical infrastructure: multiple industries have quietly fallen in love with specific types of 3D printing. And that means there’s money to be made in them there niches.
Inkbit has found a huge niche for its TEPU 50A, allowing users to make rubber-like components for use in factory settings, like this grommet
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ASIA’S IMPACT
It should come as no surprise that the rest of the world’s factories haven’t been hanging around, waiting for Europeans and Yanks to build machines. The specimens on show at Formnext with origins in the Far East proved to be some of its biggest jaw droppers.
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Need a 26-laser SLS machine with a 1,500 x 1,500 x 1,200mm build platform? No problem. The BrightLaser Technologies BLT-S1500 may be right up your street. A sub-$1,500, 800 x 800 x 1,000mm FDM printer, capable of knocking out parts at
300mm/s? Yup, Elegoo has got it covered. An open platform, 298 x 165 x 320 mm, DLP benchtop 3D printer that undercuts everyone and their mother? Have a look at Uniontech’s Martrix range. An SLA 3D printer capable of producing full-scale prototype car body panels? Lincsolution over in Korea will sell you a 2,300 x 850 x 1,000mm unit, no worries. To paraphrase Daft Punk, everything is bigger, cheaper, faster, stronger, and less tied to legacy materials and software infrastructure. Sure, you might have some concerns about support, security and supply – but user stories for the large format machines in particular show their proven track record. It’s no longer a case of the legacy brands looking over their shoulders. The Asian brands are here and in their faces.
This titanium compressor case measures a huge 1,350 x 205 mm, with a wall thickness of 2mm – just one example of the capabilities on offer from BrightLaser Technologies
players. Hyperganic updated its fast-to-lattice software to include BASF materials data and metrics from top-tier Chinese 3D printer company Farsoon. Korean company Lincsolution has signed an agreement with Xaar to provide its printheads.
Siemens’ AM I Navigator sees the company partner with DyeMansion, HP, BASF Forward AM and EOS
COME TOGETHER
The above point on our list clearly signals a ‘shots fired’ moment in additive manufacturing. So it’s no surprise that a number of key European and American brands announced partnerships and collaborations at Formnext 2023. Partly this is to create more fluid, brand-aligned ecosystems, but there’s also a real sense of circling the wagons at play here. Siemens chose the event to shout about its new ‘holistic maturity’ model for industrialising 3D printing – the AM I Navigator Initiative. This takes that tried-and-tested Siemens knack for building parts, systems, factories and production lines that work, and applies it to additive manufacturing, with a little help from partners DyeMansion, HP, BASF Forward AM and EOS. Elsewhere, Siemens’ partnership with Ricoh around aluminium 3D printing is one of the most intriguing, purely
for its focus on this specific material process. HP was also busy bundling Autodesk Fusion with HP Multi Jet Fusion and Metal Jet printers, and lining up partners for metals materials (GKN, Sandvik and Elnik), alongside a developing relationship with metal injection moulding giant Indo-MIM. Materialise, meanwhile, is no stranger to a partnership. (In fact, it’s one of the company’s key strengths.) At Formnext, it announced sensible partnerships with HP, to integrate its MJF and Metal Jet technology into the Materialise CO-AM software platform; with Ansys, for simulation; and with DigiFabster, for quoting automation and white-label e-commerce AM. The new kids on the block aren’t missing a trick when it comes to getting involved with bigger, more established
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FEATURE
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PROBLEM-SOLVING SOFTWARE
Formnext is no longer just a showcase for radical new technology, giving attendees the chance to coo about it in the bar after the show. It’s about solutions. And these days, solutions mostly come in digital form. Most producers of additive parts are still using Materialise Magics as their production software of choice, and with good reason. In this area, Materialise knows much better than most what it’s talking about – but it’s no surprise to see big names trying to muscle in on the act. We’ve already mentioned Siemens wading into the production-level fray, but another point to note is that its Xcelerator Marketplace has added three partner solutions specifically focused on additive manufacturing. Among them, the addition of Castor is probably the most exciting. Castor’s software looks at a database of parts and identifies which
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of these could be 3D printed (profitably) from the equipment you already have, and the ability to use it via the existing Siemens ecosystem is very cool indeed. Xcelerator is quickly developing into a platform with a lot of options, and any expansion into AM is one to watch. Hexagon is similarly moving to connect all of its production powers around AM. The HxGN Additive Manufacturing suite is machine-independent and CADagnostic, allowing it to connect multiple complex software and hardware across the workflow, while throwing in some lovely additions like Simufact Additive for process verification, Esprit Edge for post-process machining, and Digimat for materials qualification. Oqton remains as impressive as ever, with 3D Systems continuing to let the team off the leash and do its thing. New addition Oqton Build
Quality monitors and traces the quality of 3D printed parts and evaluates build performance. Some really impressive features help in detecting and correcting anomalies early on in the process, to either ensure the success of each part, or at least salvage the rest of the build. While other software suppliers chat about who beta-tested their kit, Oqton went straight to Baker Hughes (a firm that knows quite a lot about 3D printing critical parts) and developed the tool alongside it.
Oqton Build Quality focuses on key areas before, during and after a build, in order to optimise processes and safeguard the success of prints
THE RISE OF INDUSTRIAL HEAVYWEIGHTS
These XYZ-axis boxes are all well and good, but if you want to remove constraints from 3D printing, then the best way is to print from the end of a 6-axis robot, using the cheap, verified, real-world polymers most commonly seen in injection moulding.
There’s more to solving this problem than strapping a hot end to a robot, but Formnext featured several companies making big leaps forward, enabling giant tooling to be built and even building end-use products on demand. Companies including AI
Build and Adaxis impressed with programming software that can work for polymers, metals and even concrete. Both technologies are hardwareagnostic, so you can use what you like. You simply import your CAD file for its geometry to be optimised and for toolpaths to be simulated, while sensors on robots means builds are monitored for quality assurance. Turnkey solutions for largeformat, robot-based systems are on the rise, with brands like Caracol and Cead working with customers on building end-toend solutions that encompass printheads, printbeds and postprocess milling. Both companies offer set-ups that can be found in aerospace and automotive autoclave tooling, as well as at rail and marine parts suppliers, and Caracol even offers its own software.
Pellet-extrusion was also on show on the 3D Systems stand. The company’s EXT Titan Pellet 3D printers are capable of 1270mm x 1270mm x 1829mm build volumes, and printing with pellets enables hundreds of thermoplastic materials to be 3D-printed, including high-performance materials not available in filament form. If 3D printing is realistic about being part of the bigger manufacturing picture, then expect this trend to grow fast.
Caracol’s system is capable of producing parts on a huge scale and lends itself best to building tooling
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IN THE FRAME
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At Eschbal, a Swiss manufacturer of window systems, introducing in-house 3D printing from Sintratec has shed new light on ways to optimise its design and manufacturing processes and make them more sustainable
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s winter nights draw in, capturing as much of the previous day’s sunlight and warmth as possible is key to a comfortable, cosy indoors. Known for its elegant and slim frame profiles, which increase the amount of light entering a room, Switzerland-based Eschbal designs and manufactures all its windows within the region for the local market. Its Sirius window brand uses local wood and recyclable aluminium. This has a positive effect on the product lifecycle, helps to create jobs and apprenticeships in Ober-Ohringen where the company is headquartered, and fosters customer intimacy and improved product quality. The Eschbal R&D team creates designs that maximise the surface area of glass, letting in more light while maintaining excellent thermal properties, and develops custom solutions so that the company can quickly respond to individual building projects. Physical prototypes are indispensable to the design team, according to Eschbal technical manager Michael Ebnöther. Before investing in expensive tooling for injection moulding, the development team needs to have a physical part that its members can test and verify. It’s crucial that 3D-printed SLS prototypes have very similar properties to injection-moulded parts. Internal demand for faster prototyping led the team to acquire its own 3D printer, with the Swiss company opting for another local brand, installing a Sintratec S2 at its production facility. Compared to its previous process of using external suppliers, the ability to 3D-print SLS parts in-house saves Eschbal several days of development time, enough to run several iterations of a design idea.
“In terms of design, 3D printing gives us much more creativity. We can now develop things that we hadn’t even thought of before,” explains Ebnöther. “With the SLS process, we were especially impressed by the tolerances of up to 0.1mm and the surface quality. In addition, other technologies such as FDM cannot deliver the quantities we need. With the S2, we can print up to 100 parts within 24 hours.”
LIGHT AS AIR To achieve the lightest possible frames while maintaining strength, Eschbal’s design team has been developing new optimised connector designs, producing prototypes in PA12 on the S2. This has allowed them to iterate on a connector’s form and verify it as they progressed. “As a result, we were able to reduce the weight of the new connector by 33%,” says Ebnöther. “It is simply easier, faster and cheaper to push the boundaries.” For small quantities, Eschbal also uses the S2 to manufacture series parts. For example, in the case of a reinforcing element that is only required for particular combinations of frames, it would not make financial sense to cut tooling for injection moulding. The component can instead be produced on demand on the S2. Members of Eschbal’s production department are also grateful for the SLS printer. Tools and auxiliary materials such as jigs and fixtures for its CNC machines were previously commissioned from an external supplier. Now, they’re 3D-printed in-house to precisely fit the corresponding profile, too. Cheaper and faster, in-house SLS prototyping has opened a window to more responsive designs and sustainable production.
2
1 New optimised ●
connector designs are prototyped using the Sintratec S2 2 Eschbal’s windows ●
are designed to maximise the light that enters a room
www.eschbal.ch
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PROFILE
BIG SMILES Inadequate lighting can be a real headache for dentists, so Swiss orthodontic solutions company Mikrona developed the LX Master Mirror, which both shines a light on their work and gives them a clearer view
F
ew people enjoy having to sit back in a dentist’s chair. Even fewer want their visits to drag on any longer than necessary. For dentists dealing with back-to-back appointments, getting clear visibility on a patient’s dental issues as quickly as possible can help avoid uncertainty, errors and eye fatigue. Mikrona knows these challenges well. The company has been developing dental tools and other equipment for over 50 years. With lighting challenges in mind, it set out to design the ultimate tool for precise and accurate visibility within the oral cavity with its light-enhanced LX Master Mirror. Adding lights to the mirrors that enable dentists to inspect hard-to-reach areas of the mouth and make fixes where needed is nothing new. But in this case, Mikrona’s designers looked to address other user requirements, too: simpler sterilisation, specific light temperatures and reusability. Development of the LX Master Mirror began with the team building up a booklet of sketches, working on the ideation of features and proposed best forms for the handheld tool to take. The first challenge was finding a shape that everybody liked. “We found that dental professionals have very unique tastes as to how their tools work within their hands,” explains Mikrona industrial design lead Luke Guttery. “We had to work very hard on the length of the handle, the balance point and the indexing (hexagon) shape. We also had to take into consideration the many different sizes of hands, if gloves are worn and if the surface gets slippery.” Guttery explains that this required the team to undertake in-depth research into material finishes and industry standards, not to mention patient mouths. “These come in all shapes and sizes, and to work out the size of the mirror and distance to the fibre optic to get the right reflection was an interesting challenge for the team,” he says.
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PROFILE models. These then allowed rendered concepts to be quickly produced in Luxion Keyshot, in order to help narrow down design intent before moving into physical prototypes. “From here we move to the 3D printer within the same day, sometimes within 30 minutes of concept generation,” says Guttery. The first stages of ideation, he adds, saw the team print over 40 different models using an in-house UltiMaker S5 3D printer. “These prints were then reviewed and tested with clinicians to determine which design provided the best ergonomics for use in dental procedures. The chosen design was then refined to meet the specific requirements of the users, including high clarity mirror and specific light temperatures,” Guttery explains. “The S5 can pump up very rough prototypes at 0.2 tolerance that are great for gauging size in the hand and overall shape,” he continues. “It can also in its finer setting produce really nice prototypes for more detailed fittings and connections.” For larger scale prototyping, the Mikrona team turned to UK-based service bureau Printing Portals, which is equipped with HP MultiJet Fusion 3D printing for faster turnarounds at volume. Key challenges were settling on a design that was biocompatible and could be easily sterilised. These were addressed through materials and manufacturing choices. Mikrona selected as its material Stainless-steel 316, which can withstand high temperatures and pressures and offers appropriate biocompatibility features. When the project reached the stage of creating working prototypes for testing and validation, a local CNC prototype producer machined several batches of fully working tools to allow for in-house testing. The handle can be autoclaved after each use, ensuring it remains hygienic and suitable for use in clinical settings. The Microbeam lighting module can be hand disinfected and reused in the next procedure.
OPEN WIDE The MicroBeam LED light is attached to an ultra-reflective Rhodium mirror, giving bright and focused illumination. This allows dentists a clear view of the patient’s mouth, while ensuring that light remains consistent throughout the procedure. Capable of running for 120 minutes, the module is offered in either day light, cure safe light and UV light versions.
The day light module is perfect for everyday procedures and check-ups, providing a bright, clear light. The MicroBeam CureSafe option provides an orangetinted light designed specifically for procedures that involve UV glue, which can prematurely cure under certain types of light. The UV light version allows for check-ups of composite fillings and retainer anchor points and searching for residual glue left over from previous procedures. To achieve the best light, fibre optic technology was used, forming a critical step in the development process. The team worked with a Swiss fibre optic specialist FiberOptics to develop the correct optic dimensions and light reflection angles for the optimal performance. The result is a light junction shaped to match that of the fibre optics’ reflective angles, which ensures all light is directed onto the mirror surface. Sensor specialist Dynaforce was enlisted to calibrate and perfect the feel of the on/ off switch in a multitude of environments. “Since this HMI input solution is based on force touch, we are able to use it in all environments, such as with thick gloves, with wet or dry hands, even under water! The system can even be adjusted in force pressure, depending on customer need,” explains Guttery. The LX Master Mirror uses a 7x2mm sensor soldered onto a PCB board. Assembled to a polycarbonate cover, it acts as the user interface. On the PCB board is a preprogrammed microcontroller that measures the force applied on the user interface. “It’s not easy to pack the LED tech and a very high-end touch sensor into a tiny housing that must be sealed from the elements, cleaned with hard chemicals regularly, recharged and complies with medical standards!” laughs Guttery. “Luckily we have fantastic internal and external experts who assisted us in the development.” Following comprehensive testing, the product is now proving its worth in clinics.
1
www.mikrona.com
2
1 The LX Master ●
Mirror combines a MicroBeam LED light with an ultra-reflective Rhodium mirror 2 Mikrona’s tools ●
help dentists access hard-to-reach places in the mouth and get problems fixed fast
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Additive Manufacturing Users Group
2024 AMUG CONFERENCE March 10 - 14 | Chicago
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FEATURE
AUTODESK LAYS THE FOUNDATIONS FOR AI With Autodesk Fusion Industry Cloud, Autodesk has big plans for data across the entire product lifecycle, writes Greg Corke
I
t must be hard to run a software company these days. If you and your colleagues are not actively shouting about AI, then your organisation isn’t part of the conversation. It’s no surprise, then, that Autodesk execs used the company’s flagship Autodesk University event in November to launch a new brand: ‘Autodesk AI’. In fact, there has been a sprinkling of AI capabilities in Autodesk products for several years now. But since the company didn’t deliver any major new AI capabilities at the event, the new branding seems somewhat retrospective. In truth, Autodesk’s message is probably aimed more at its shareholders than at its customers. This is the company making a loud, public statement of its intent to bring more AI capabilities into the mix henceforth. Many future AI developments at Autodesk look set to centre on Autodesk Fusion Industry Cloud, which was announced at Autodesk University in 2022. As Srinath Jonnalagadda, Autodesk vice president of design and manufacturing industry strategy, explained: “It’s how we bring together data and workflows across the entire product lifecycle. It unifies your data.” The Autodesk Fusion Industry Cloud is built on the Autodesk Manufacturing Data Model (formerly known as Fusion Data), which is designed to provide a consistent method for accessing and sharing data. “The idea is this can be done through any device,” said Jonnalagadda. “Whether you’re a business executive at a conference in Vegas, giving final design approval from your phone; or a production engineer heading to Shanghai, getting an alert about a change mid-flight on your laptop; or a machinist on the shop floor in Birmingham, seeing from your tablet that tolerances have changed, you’re going to hear a lot about this – our vision for the future, the future we’re building with Fusion Industry Cloud.” The Autodesk Manufacturing Data Model works by breaking up monolithic files into granular data that is stored in a unified database and can be accessed through APIs. Instead of exchanging heavy files, the idea is that users can access the ‘right data at the right time’, without having to worry so much about version control. In addition, because the data is broken down into bits of information, subsets of data can be shared with collaborators. According to Derrek Cooper, vice president of cloud data and PLM at Autodesk, this opens up new ways to
exchange and extract information, relating to things like materials, cost, geometry and others. Storing all data in a unified database, instead hiding it away in individual files, presents a massive opportunity for AI. The idea is to set Autodesk AI loose on the data and gain valuable insights. Quite what these insights will be remains to be seen. Data doesn’t just have to come from Fusion, Inventor or other Autodesk tools. In the future, the plan is to extend it to data from third parties. CAD, CAM, CAE, PCB, data management (PLM, PDM), manufacturing execution systems (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and applications are all up for grabs. In other words, we’re talking about data from across the entire product lifecycle.
AI: THE HERE AND NOW While letting AI loose in the Autodesk Fusion Industry Cloud is certainly something to look for in future, Autodesk did announce one new AI capability that is coming to Fusion that will likely resonate with many of its manufacturing customers. Autodesk is using AI to automate drawing production. According to Jeff Kinder, the company’s executive vice president of design and manufacturing, this is a task that can suck up 60% of a skilled engineer’s time. “By the end of the year, we will launch automated drawings in Fusion to translate your 3D models into fully dimensioned drawings with a click of a button,” he said. AI is also helping bring new efficiencies to toolpath generation, through a partnership with CloudNC, a UK firm in which Autodesk has made a major investment. “Fusion has reduced programming times by up to 80% through AI-powered CNC toolpath analysis and automation,” said Kinder. “You can upload a 3D model of any part and in one click automate toolpath creation, meaning you can spend time on the complex high-value projects that differentiate your shop’s capabilities,” added Stephen Hooper, vice president of design & manufacturing product development. On a more creative level, Autodesk recently acquired BlankAI for conceptual design. This is a generative AI technology that augments the work of automotive/ industrial designers, enabling them to create 3D concepts “in milliseconds”. The AI lets users generate and edit proportional 3D models via semantic control. It even allows automotive firms to incorporate their own historic design DNA into
‘‘ Autodesk
will launch automated drawings in Fusion to translate your 3D models into fully dimensioned drawings with a click of a button
’’
1 CloudNC is ●
using AI to bring new efficiencies to toolpath generation 2 Automated ●
drawings in Fusion is a cloud service. Users can choose from a variety of dimensioning styles 3 BlankAI, a ●
generative AI technology for conceptual design 4 ‘Configurations’ in ●
Fusion uses granular data to allow users to create multiple product variants
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the AI, so new concepts are consistent with existing styling cues. Autodesk has also integrated the software with Alias and VRED for a more “immersive, collaborative experience”. BlankAI will be debuting in Autodesk’s automotive design studio next year, and while the main focus is currently on automotive, Hooper said there’s no reason it couldn’t be applied to other products, such as furniture or packaged goods.
THE ROLE OF FUSION 360
1
2
3
When Autodesk Fusion 360 launched in 2013, many presumed it would mark the death knell for Inventor. Ten years later, Inventor is still going strong. While people still talk of migration from Inventor to Fusion 360, Hooper sees better integration between the two CAD tools as something that provides more complementary workflows. There are now one-click workflows that bring data from Inventor into Fusion associatively. If a model is changed in Inventor, it will automatically update in Fusion, and vice versa. “[Inventor users] can start to make use of things like generative design, some of the automated machine tools, and eventually things like automated drawings,” said Hooper. Interoperability between the two tools goes beyond an associative link. It also extends to data management, as Cooper explained: “Customers that are managing their data on-premise in [Autodesk] Vault, they also want to explore using Fusion, and we have a connection directly between Vault and Fusion, so you can have this coexistence.” Autodesk is also looking to improve interoperability with third parties. In a move designed to enhance collaboration between mechanical and electronics design, Autodesk has formed a new partnership with Cadence, a specialist in electronics systems design tools. “Our partnership connects their sophisticated PCB design capabilities directly to Fusion, so changes made in either tool will automatically be reflected in the other,” said Kinder. The storing of granular data in the Autodesk Data Model is also helping deliver new capabilities in Fusion. This includes the recently released ‘configurations’, which allow users to create multiple product variants during a development cycle without having to deal with multiple file versions. “Each new configuration is not a massive new file, just recorded changes in a cloud database, which makes it faster to load, easier to navigate and easier to manage,” said Kinder.
CONCLUSION
4
Autodesk clearly has a long way to go before it delivers on its big vision for AI. At AU, we got a good idea of how it intends to get there - via the Autodesk Fusion Industry Cloud, with a unified database built around granular data from multiple sources across the entire product lifecycle. However, for now, there is very little information about what Autodesk’s AI will do with that data once it’s there. In the meantime, we expect to see AI start to bring more tangible benefits to Autodesk users, with automated drawing production and one-click machining strategies being cases in point. We’re also interested to see what role BlankAI might play beyond the automotive sector. www.autodesk.com
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FEATURE
ELECTRIC DREAMS: AUTODESK AT RIVIAN
A
utodesk is no stranger to the automotive industry. Its Alias and VRED tools are used extensively by many global firms for surfacing and visualisation. Rivian, an electric vehicle (EV) start-up that develops SUVs and pick-up trucks, falls into that camp. The company has been using VR in VRED to visualise the Rivian R1 EV, from engineering to colour to materials and finishes. It’s an integral part of the design process, so its team can experience the design first-hand. “You can’t walk inside a clay model,” says Jeff Hammoud, chief design officer at Rivian. “With VR, we can open the door, explore the interior. How do things look and feel? Is there glare from the screen? What’s the view from the steering wheel?” While Rivian’s use of Alias and VRED is standard, its implementation of Autodesk Fusion 360 is not. The core of the design is done on an unnamed CAD system (we’re guessing Siemens NX or Catia), but the company’s special projects team that creates its prototypes has standardised on Autodesk’s CAD/CAM tool. Fusion 360 is used to programme Rivian’s 5-axis CAM machines for prototyping parts, jigs and fixtures. Components range from door hinges, motor covers and motor mounts to the subframe and suspension system. “We were able to swiftly create multiple iterations on our CNC machined suspension components,” said Hammoud. “Fusion enabled us to fine-tune the geometry and the fit of these parts with remarkable efficiency.” The decision to use Fusion 360 was driven by Rivian’s Jonathan Dankenbring, who now leads a team of machining and additive experts for prototyping at Rivian. Dankenbring joined the automaker five years ago and was immediately tasked with building up its 5-axis capabilities. At the time, Fusion 360 was the only tool with which he was familiar, through his experience of programming hobbyist CNC machines. With only two weeks to prove out the process, he admits it was a steep learning curve. The rest is history, as they say. “We find it completely capable,” he told DEVELOP3D. “We’ve yet to find a part that we can’t make in Fusion 360.” Of course, it’s faster and cheaper to 3D print prototype parts, so until a stage is reached where testing for fit is required, parts can be made in plastic. Rivian uses a range of additive manufacturing technologies from Stratasys including FDM, SLA, DLP, Polyjet, and Powder Bed Fusion.
1
2
www.rivian.com
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1 The Rivian R1S is an ●
all-electric SUV
2 A CNC-machined ●
3
motor mount prototype part
3 Rivian is using ●
Fusion 360 to programme 5-axis CAM machines for prototyping parts, jigs and fixtures
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UNLOCKING ENGINEE Interoperability in the CAE space remains a hurdle in many design and engineering workflows. Andres Rodriguez-Villa, Tech Soft 3D director of CAE, charts a path for achieving the holy grail of seamless data flows
I
n today’s fast-paced engineering landscape, computer-aided engineering (CAE) plays a pivotal role in the design, simulation and analysis of ever-more complex systems. Organisations use a host of CAE software tools to tackle engineering problems, and the need for seamless communication and data exchange between these tools is crucial. That’s because every failed file transfer, mesh and/ or geometry discrepancy, or gap in the implementation details of underlying physical modelling all represent complex barriers to the engineering process. Since the 1980s, CAE software has proliferated, with many different specialised tools now available to cater to distinct engineering domains. These include, among others, structural analysis, computational fluid dynamics, electromagnetics and material forming. Innovation has created a straightforward but costly problem of incompatible data formats and structures.
DATA TRANSFER LIMITATIONS Given the variety of data formats and the technical constraints imposed by differences in underlying mathematical kernels, it’s no surprise that moving data between solvers is more than an inconvenience. Many situations require special care and data processing. In some cases, even simple differences in features can cause issues. If a solver does not support a given material model, or has a different way of imposing a boundary condition, this has to be directly addressed.
Different CAE and CAD applications adopt proprietary file formats, despite the limitations this imposes. Achieving seamless data exchange between packages is a tedious and error-prone process, yet organisations continue on in this habit, without ever tackling true interoperability. Geometric models create the most compelling differences between solvers. Often, the numerical schemes between them are different, and this can lead to discrepancies in the underlying discretisation of geometry and physical equations. When these fundamental differences exist, a data transfer will involve different meshes and/or different result mappings and orders.
THE QUEST FOR CAE INTEROPERABILITY The ‘Holy Grail’ of interoperability is simply to be able to read and write data in a single standard, all-encompassing format. A second option is the development and maintenance of capable converters between reliable, consistently evolving formats. Several initiatives over the years have made significant contributions to CAE interoperability. Today, there are more than a few formats that strive to be ‘universal’, or at least neutral. Most of these have been developed and pushed by single vendors. SDRC/Siemens’ universal format (.unv), FEMAP’s neutral file, PATRAN’s neutral format, and PTC Creo’s FEM neutral format (.fnf) all fit this description. If we widen the criteria to include CAD and CAE sharing, others pop up, such as IGES, STEP, MPGS, VRML, JT (later JT Open), U3D (later 3D PDF), and more.
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OPINION
NEERING EFFICIENCY Despite their best intentions, individual efforts have only resulted in complicating the landscape further. The list of proprietary formats just keeps getting longer. The obvious workaround would be a collective approach. The most recent of these collaborative efforts is the VMAP consortium, led by Germany-based applied research organisation Fraunhofer. But while the idea gets around the problems caused by individual efforts, as of today, it’s just another file format on a very long list. As it stands, we are far from the perfect world in which CAE data flows seamlessly from one solver to the next. The logical follow-up is to ask if such a thing is even possible? After all, every vendor would love to provide the standard and none wants to give theirs up. At the same time, we cannot get rid of legacy files and formats. There are vast quantities of data on servers at every organisation, needed for reference and for future uses, such as machine learning applications. This mess of conflicting interests means a rather bleak outlook for our interoperability dream. Developing interoperability tools – converters, SDKs – to tide us over until the dream is achieved is a tedious, time-consuming task. It never ends, as formats are continuously developed and updated.
AIDING THE COMPUTE With the present outlook gloomy and the Holy Grail seemingly unattainable, we have to ask: How are CAE software developers tackling the problem today, and what is their plan for tomorrow?
The first step is simple: limit the problem. This is done by restricting the formats their application needs to import and export at any given time. From here, the implementation of readers is generally done in-house. For open formats – those that come complete with published specifications – this is do-able. When proprietary formats are involved, however, things get more complicated. The second part of the solution is the smart utilisation of third-party apps that provide you with what you need. Putting huge amounts of developer time and money into the periphery of your CAE application is not the best use of resources. The integration of a dedicated third-party component can give you the range of import/ export options you need without demanding too big a commitment at your end. These tools are certainly worth looking at if you’re looking to save developer resources by reducing development times, training requirements and debugging work, while simultaneously providing faster time-tomarket and more complete products. After all, this is meant to be computer-aided – not computer-restricted – engineering.
‘‘ We are
far from a perfect world in which CAE data flows seamlessly from one solver to another. The logical follow-up is to ask if such a thing is even possible?
’’
About the author: Andres Rodriguez-Villa joined Tech Soft 3D, a leading global provider of SDKs for building engineering software, in 2020 following its acquisition of Ceetron. With over 20 years of experience in the CAE space, he is now responsible for the company’s CAE product portfolio www.techsoft3d.com
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OPINION
SMALL STUFF BIG BREAKTHROUGHS ,
New coatings and materials are transforming the 3D printing of micro components for innovative products — and the revolution has only just begun, writes John Kawola of Boston Micro Fabrication
T
he 3D printing industry has recently faced challenges, with companies in the sector experiencing declining stock valuations, fundraising struggles and corporate restructuring. However, it is important to put this turbulence into perspective. We may not be seeing the same explosion in 3D technologies that we saw 20 years ago, but that doesn’t mean the industry is stagnant. In fact, new collaborations and new applications for these platforms are actually expanding the value of 3D printing in many industries. A lot of progress has been made. Despite initial challenges, 3D printing has evolved from providing expensive prototypes for big companies to accessible tools for engineers of all kinds. In the last 15 years, major advancements have been made in manufacturing applications, particularly in sectors such as dental and aerospace. Although at times there may have been excessive venture capital investment and unrealistic expectations – my own opinions included –the industry has moved forwards relentlessly. It is now crucial for 3D printing companies to build sustainable businesses and to focus on providing their customers with valuable tools and options. As we continue to innovate, the additive manufacturing industry will play an increasingly vital role in pushing production into the future and solving real problems.
UNIQUE VALUE AT THE MICRO SCALE One way this progress shows up today is in the identification of specific use cases that are uniquely enabled by 3D printing, and then the layering on additional technologies or functionality, in order to expand the possible solutions to which 3D printed parts might apply. I am part of a company called BMF, where we are focused on very high-precision and high-resolution 3D printing – a capability typically valuable in the making of small parts with fine features and tight tolerances. The move toward miniaturisation in many industries has opened doors for 3D printing at this micro scale, empowering engineers and scientists to push back the frontiers of innovation in their industries. While 3D printing was initially hyped for its potential in consumer applications, its true impact lies in product development by companies. Popular printing techniques have been re-engineered to support the production of large-scale products like homes, cars, even
‘‘ As
planes. And we’re also seeing a flurry of opportunities for 3D printing at the micro scale, where high-precision requirements make traditional manufacturing techniques less than ideal. As technology becomes smaller, precision becomes paramount. This is where 3D printing excels, with its on-demand, cost-effective and customisable nature, which accelerates innovation and efficiency. Additionally, when considering traditional production techniques such as moulding, the number of units needed in some of these highly specific applications does not always warrant large-scale manufacturing approaches. Instead, 3D printing can be used in these cases to deliver more precise, cost-effective parts.
technology becomes smaller, precision becomes paramount. This is where 3D printing excels, accelerating INNOVATION innovation SPARKING Beyond finding new applications for traditional 3D and parts to replace manufacturing or production, new collaborations are expanding the limits of what these efficiency
’’
parts can do. For example, we recently expanded the functionality of our precision 3D micro parts by coating these materials with environmentally resistant metallic or non-metallic conductive coatings. By partnering with micro component and coatings expert Horizon Micro Technologies, we have been able to create an end-to-end offering that begins with initial product design through manufacturing, giving more flexibility for companies in need of highly versatile product development resources. These coatings expand the possible use cases for our parts, while delivering the same high level of precision our customers require. Now, we can wholly or selectively coat micro-parts with a non-metallic conductive layer. We can add environmental resistance to parts, enabling the creation of microscale devices that are more durable, reliable, and better suited for use in harsh environments, characterised by aggressive chemicals or high temperatures, for example. And we can wholly or selectively coat micro-AM parts with copper. This helps broaden the use cases for micro-3D printing technology across new industries and applications. Beyond surface coatings, new printing materials are also pushing the boundaries on innovation. Properties demonstrated by, for example, electrostatic discharge (ESD) safe materials are important, because they prevent damage to products during the production process. Creating ESD-safe materials – either by taking precautionary measures or by using materials that are
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themselves ESD-safe – can save time and money, as well as increase the efficiency of workflows and operations. We recently worked with Mechnano to offer its Formula1µ ESD for use with BMF’s 200 and 300-series 3D printers. What sets this cutting-edge, black, rigid, static-dissipative photopolymer resin apart is its unique formulation, which utilises Mechnano’s proprietary ‘discrete carbon nanotube’ technology. This now delivers the highest tensile strength option available on the BMF platform and is the only resin that dissipates static electricity. With the dual increase of electronics usage and decrease in chip size, the applications requiring micro-ESD parts are growing daily.
enabled by our technology. Such previously impossible applications are opening doors to entirely new industries and applications for 3D printing technologies. As we continue to push the bounds of innovation through our own Research Institute and new collaborations, the book of use cases uniquely enabled by high-precision, small-scale 3D printing will not only continue to expand, but become a necessity. Soon, micro AM parts will solve puzzling design and manufacturing dilemmas that have long hindered product advancement. So, while 3D printing overall may no longer be the big story, it’s solving real problems and fostering a wealth of innovation.
SHRINKING PRODUCTS
About the Author: John Kawola is Chief Executive Officer for Global Operations at Boston Micro Fabrication (BMF). He has more than two decades of business leadership experience across the additive manufacturing, 3D printing and materials science industries. BMF is focused on introducing and scaling micro-3D printing technology to a range of industries that demand a high level of resolution and precision
In all the areas where we supply our platform, we’re seeing miniaturisation as a key driver in the products that customers are developing, especially in OEM industries such as electronics, optics and photonics and medical devices. Many of these products are highvalue and, due to stringent requirements, are uniquely
3D printing can now be used to produce microscale parts for use in smart products that must be durable, reliable and resilient
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PROFILE
TAKING A DEEP DIVE
In need of an awe-inspiring showcase of its expertise that would leave a lasting impression, submersibles specialist JFD Global turned to Malcolm Nicholls Limited to produce a scale exhibition model with big impact
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n established provider to 35 of the world’s navies, JFD produces equipment that improves safety and preserves life in the event of submarines running into trouble. Heading to DSEI London, one of the world’s biggest trade shows for its industry, the team at JFD planned to launch the company’s latest subsea product, the fourth generation of its submarine rescue system, Agile. JFD entrusted UK modelmakers and 3D printing bureau Malcolm Nicholls Limited (MNL) to create of a 1:10 scale model of the new Agile, with a brief not merely to showcase the product, but also immerse the audience in the world of the submersible, and in particular, the rescue craft’s ability to lock onto a submarine escape hatch, deep underwater, in order to extract stricken crew. The first stages of this project involved safe data handling and exchange of CAD, with JFD providing MNL with a mesh exterior model of the craft. The CAD data allowed MNL to produce detailed renders of its proposal to ensure it fitted the customer’s vision, including an intricate stand and lighting features that would help bring the static display to life. After careful consideration, the team chose stereolithography (SLA) as the method of manufacturing the parts. Accuracy, superior surface finish and the ability to create the necessary four sections simultaneously made SLA a good fit with the project’s demands. “JFD wanted to be able to use this scale model for years to come, so as part of the build, we used internal carbon fibre patches to help prevent any long-term sagging to the model, while vacuum casting was utilised to ensure the end portal’s UV stability,” says MNL technical director Ross Nicholls. In this way, MNL was able to avoid a
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common problem associated with SLA models of this size: distortion. While alternative technologies, such as selective laser sintering (SLS), were an option, Nicholls says they were ruled out due to rougher surface finishes. “Opting for SLS would have necessitated extensive post-processing and, crucially, would have extended the project timeline beyond what JFD’s exhibition schedule allowed,” he explains. Modifying the 3D CAD model was key to ensuring the model’s accuracy and integrity. The team added strategically placed steel tubes for support, reinforcing the structure and ensuring it could withstand the rigours of being transported to exhibitions around the world. Lattice supports were added to the CAD to help with the stability of the model, while internal ribs and injecting epoxy resin following post-processing also contributed to the overall strength and longevity of the model. Additionally, the clear domed viewing portal, a critical component, was carefully vacuum-casted to ensure UV stability, guaranteeing its clarity and durability. To achieve the required precision and aesthetics, the MNL team opted to use Somos Watershed materials on the company’s largest 3D printer, a Stratasys Neo 800 SLA machine with a 800 x 800 x 600mm build platform. “The choice wasn’t arbitrary; it was driven by the Neo’s remarkable precision, generous build capacity and the material’s exceptional surface-finishing properties,” says Nicholls. The MNL team painted, assembled and finished the model to an immaculate showroom finish, all within a tight six-week timeframe, providing JFD with a stunning showcase for its new lifesaving vessel. www.mnl.co.uk | www.jfdglobal.com
1 The clear domed ●
viewing portal of JFD’s Agile submersible was carefully vacuumcasted for clarity and durability 2 MNL Is an expert on ●
the production of clear plastic parts using SLAbased 3D printing 3 MNL’s stunning ●
model of JFD’s Agile was produced within a tight six-week timeframe
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PROFILE
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS Ryse 3D executives can’t disclose much about what the company actually delivers to its automotive customers, but as Stephen Holmes discovers, its highly individual approach to 3D printing is certainly worth talking about
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or every brief snippet we can reveal about Ryse 3D, a dozen other details need to be redacted. Based in the unassuming town of Shipston-on-Stour, UK, the production 3D printing service founded in 2017 is ‘officially’ involved in 14 hypercar projects. The term ‘secretive’ doesn’t even begin to cover the hushhush nature of this work. What we can report is that Ryse 3D works with brands including Aston Martin, Lotus, Williams Advanced Engineering and Gordon Murray Design, along with Tier One OEMs, providing a wide variety of parts for cuttingedge, next-generation vehicles. These range from full HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems to brake ducts and wing mirror vision systems. Well over £1 million has been invested in the company’s 8,000-square foot facility, with a plan in place to double print output capacity early in 2024, using its own inhouse developed 3D printers. But from there, we need to be careful about what we say. It’s not that Ryse 3D CEO Mitchell Barnes isn’t happy to talk about the company’s work – but he needs to stay mindful at all times that his goal of maintaining Ryse 3D’s position as the go-to 3D printing specialist for automotive heavyweights depends on maintaining excellent relationships based on trust with those companies, not to mention a library of paperwork outlining airtight non-disclosure agreements.
A FOOT IN THE DOOR Speaking at a mile-a-minute pace from behind his desk at Ryse 3D’s headquarters, Barnes radiates a deep knowledge of additive manufacturing and a seemingly insatiable passion for the technology.
An enthusiasm for technology, nurtured at a high school fortunate enough to have a D&T workshop featuring 3D printers, led to a work placement at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), where he was mentored by in-house design team members. Next came a stint studying automotive design at Coventry University. He didn’t enjoy these studies, he says, but his dissatisfaction as a student was alleviated by parttime work at automotive supplier Penso. Having built a 1 cubic metre FDM 3D printer in his mother’s garage, Barnes soon began taking orders from his fellow students to build their models, too, and paying the professional modelmakers at Penso to finish and paint them. “And then I sold them back to the kids at university for half of what the university was charging,” he laughs. With his entrepreneurial streak clearly paying off, he was able to start his own production 3D printing company and was careful about choosing the right path. “3D printing’s a massive space in automotive, but everyone’s got it wrong,” he says. “All the bureaux out there just want to print parts for the sake of printing parts. I could see their model is backwards; they let the machine manufacturers lead the way and just follow along and try and keep up with the market share.” For Ryse 3D, picking the right projects has always been key, along with keeping a close eye on delivering the production quality expected by automotive clients. Word of mouth quickly spread in the close-knit enclave of UK automotive. Today, the company is recognised and trusted by companies in the sector for its ability to pass the necessary quality and inspection protocols, understand the pressures of the automotive world and speak that world’s language fluently. It is now firmly in the business of making what Barnes refers to as “cool parts for cool cars.”
1 Ryse 3D runs a ●
fleet of 3D printers that offers FDM, DLP, SLA and HP’s MJF technologies 2 The company ●
has the skills and experience to ensure that parts meet the strict requirements of automotive clients
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CREDIT: EMMA TRIMBLE (DAILY EXPRESS) CREDIT: EMMA TRIMBLE (DAILY EXPRESS)
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PROFILE
CREDIT: EMMA TRIMBLE (DAILY EXPRESS)
TICKING THE RIGHT BOXES Along the way, Barnes has developed a sure-fire strategy for delivering what the customer needs when it comes to components. He reels this off, machine-gun style and barely taking a breath. “You have to massively put yourself in their shoes: What are they trying to achieve? Why? What volume are they looking at? What do they want from a performance perspective? Are there any design challenges that they are facing? Is there a lead time issue? Is there a speed issue? Are there finish requirements that 3D printing can’t handle? Why do they want the part? Is it an A-class surface with a lot of detailed stuff around it?” Along with getting answers to these questions, he continues, “you have to tick all of the boxes, including the cost-quality-time triangle, and really work together to put that in the right box, rather than just sell capacity. The reason why we use 3D printing to deliver those solutions is because it’s the most flexible technology available.” A key factor in the success of Ryse 3D, he reckons, is that it strives not to be a faceless online bureau. “We have a proper good relationship with all our customers. And I’d rather have 15 customers that are fantastic that we work with than hundreds or thousands of customers that I don’t know and can’t support on their journey,” he says. “In my time, I’ve worked in automotive companies where so many amazing, beautiful programmes don’t see the light of day because of cost or development issues, or poor suppliers, or bad management by the customer. We want to be a company that people can trust to work with, and we can develop with them.”
UNDER THE BONNET At first glance, the hardware that Ryse 3D runs looks similar to that found in most of today’s multifaceted 3D printing bureaux. After all, FDM, DLP, SLA and HP’s MJF make for a pretty commonplace stack of 3D printing technologies. Barnes and his team, however, have a real knack for pushing the envelope. This is based on his conviction that it’s foolish to just trust ‘the vision’ of 3D printer manufacturers. To make any meaningful progress, he believes, users of these machines need to drive everything themselves. “The technology is more capable than its makers have realised,” says Barnes. A great deal of Ryse 3D’s success comes down to identifying industry needs and developing workflows and adapting hardware to address those needs. “There’s been a big onus on developing our own machines, modifying machines, pushing machines in terms of software and part development, so that we’re not relying on bloated machine manufacturers to give us solutions that they’re not going to give us,” says Barnes. “I think we’re different in this space. There’s no one else that makes their own machines, develops the stuff, makes bits and pieces of software, adds volumetric flow smoothing across paths, or adds accelerometers and our own custom electronics into machines, and all sorts of other cool stuff that we do.” Just as Barnes built that first 3D printer in his mother’s garage, his company now builds its own FDM 3D printers, taking basic machines and then upgrading them with its own hot ends, extrusion parts, gears and fan ducting. This massively pushes printers as far as they can go. “The small printers that we might build for £2,000 compared to ones we would have to buy for £80,000, we can use to manufacture series production parts for a £2
Ryse 3D CEO Mitchell Barnes inspects parts ready for another automotive customer
million car and enable us to scale faster and take on more programmes” he grins. At the heart of his approach is a deep dive into every component the company makes, and a real understanding of what is required, rather than simply trusting the most expensive machine in the workshop to deliver what its vendors say it will.
EARNING ITS KEEP As mentioned, the actual work that Ryse delivers isn’t in the public domain, or likely to be any time soon. What we do know is that much of it is focused on short-run exotic models and on pre-production processes for more standard cars. This typically happens when an automotive manufacturer or OEM hasn’t confirmed or validated its own tools, and Ryse 3D will instead step in, either to design and develop a 3D printed tool to make the part, or directly print and validate the part itself. In one example, a customer facing a lengthy wait for an HVAC ducting system to be delivered already had cars on the assembly line. “So we developed a way of using infrared welding to fuse together parts built using MJF to make them completely solid and create the whole ducting system,” says Barnes. An entire car ducting system could then be 3D printed in a single printer build, before being assembled. Some 500 sets were built and put together over three months, keeping the assembly line moving and the client extremely pleased. With an achievement like that under its belt, it’s intriguing to imagine what might be achieved as the worlds of automotive and additive manufacturing continue to move closer together. Barnes undoubtedly has a good idea of what that future looks like – but for now, he’s not saying. www.ryse3d.com
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STAY COOL Looking to put its Theta camera to work on monitoring its own factory production lines, Ricoh used nTop to redesign its casing and enable it to let off some heat
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he Ricoh Theta is a pocket-sized, 360-degree Ricoh created several models of the camera cover gyroid camera, capable of capturing high-definition in nTop using as its parameters XYZ cell size and wall (HD) environments at the click of a button. thickness. These models, created almost instantly in Users say they love its simplicity, which nTop, would have taken hours to build as traditional CAD frees them from having to worry about the models. Because of the time savings achieved, the design angle of view, tilt or settings. It’s a popular team was able to iterate and test multiple options to find tool in real estate and auto sales for creating virtual tours. the best solution for its thermal management goals. Visualisation artists use it for making HDR backdrops. “NTop is great for solving thermal issues, because it Meanwhile, Ricoh was keen to put the camera to work allows us to model and test the geometry needed for internally, providing 24-hour monitoring of factory heat dissipation easily and quickly,” says Tsuji Masato, production lines. To provide mechanical designer in the development for mechatronic this kind of streaming, the and software section at Ricoh. camera would clearly need “With conventional CAD software, it is practically to operate continuously in impossible to evaluate multiple complex environments as hot as 32C. shapes such as gyroids. With However, as a safeguard nTop, creating and testing to prolong the life of its these components, the Theta shapes was easy.” camera is designed to shut down By creating a gyroid automatically when the main circuit board structure in nTop, the Ricoh senses it might overheat. team was able to redesign the To get round this, the design team set out to remodel heat transfer paths, allowing 2 the camera’s casing, to improve the performance of heat heat to faster dissipate through the exchangers and dissipate sufficient excess heat to keep the front cover of the camera housing and keeping internal camera running 24/7, regardless of its environment. electronics 24% cooler than was seen in the previous design. KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY With the new elements of its housing in place, a Theta Determined to keep the project in-house, executives at camera could easily run for over 24 hours in continuous Ricoh chose the company’s own aluminium binder jetting use without coming anywhere close to overheating. As a capabilities to manufacture the redesigned casing, in what result, it can be put to a cool new use, thanks to a simple would be an excellent test of its own metals 3D printers. section redesign. In part, that’s because aluminium is notoriously difficult www.ricoh.com to use in combination with binder jetting, due to oxidation in the sintering process. However, Ricoh’s technology uses a specialised binder and a unique sintering process that delivers parts reliably. This was perfect for producing the small, complex features of the camera cover. A gyroid structure was chosen for the design, driven by the need to improve heat dissipation and also take full advantage of 3D printing. Using nTop’s implicit modelling software, this gyroid structure could be tuned for the best heat transfer performance, since it creates a lightweight, self-supporting structure with a high surface 3 area to volume ratio.
1 The casing of ●
Ricoh’s Theta camera was redesigned to improve heat dissipation 2 The camera is ●
designed to shut down if there is a risk of the main circuit board overheating 3 With nTop, a ●
gyroid structure was designed for optimal heat transfer performance
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Mobile Pixels Geminos » With a unique over/under design, the Geminos double monitor from Mobile Pixels looks to bring ergonomics and increased productivity to your desktop, while freeing up space. Stephen Holmes tests it out to see if it stacks up
» Size: 2 x 24” panels » Panel type: IPS » Resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 (FHD) per panel » Refresh Rate: 60 Hertz » Colour Gamut: 97% sRGB » Brightness: 250 nit » Connectors: 2 x HDMI £517 + VAT* www.mobilepixels.us *Price from www.scan.co.uk
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’ve opened plenty of laptops before, but this was the first time I’ve ever unfolded a monitor. The over/under stacked Geminos double monitor from Mobile Pixels is like nothing I’ve ever encountered, and unpacking this product was a unique moment. Mobile Pixels was founded back in 2018 to add lightweight secondary monitors to mobile workstations, which would expand viewing space and increase productivity. Fast-forward to today and the brand has built a cult following, especially among creatives on the move. It now offers a range of secondary and even tri-screen laptop monitors. The Geminos, which marks the company’s first move into desktop products, started life as a July 2022 Kickstarter campaign that was fully funded a mere 36 minutes after going live. You can see why backers were hooked. There’s barely an office desk to be found nowadays that doesn’t have a multiple monitor set-up, regardless of role or workflow. More monitors simply make sense for many users, whether they want to keep their dedicated design space free from clutter, or simply have a separate window that enables them to keep on top of team communications and email. The problem is the footprint occupied by hardware. Two screens positioned next to each other are likely to spread well over one metre. And that leads to other issues: the need for a desk or table big enough to accommodate them, not to mention the physical condition wonderfully coined as ‘tech neck’. Twisting your neck between screens multiple times a day is bound to result in fatigue and possibly even longer term damage, so being able to survey available screen space with a flick of the eyes rather than contorting your meaty nape is bound to help. With the Geminos, not only is your second screen positioned just a quick glance up from your main work screen, but you can also physically move the screen by sliding the bottom screen out towards you. That’s nice for sketching with a graphics tablet and it also draws the height of the top screen lower.
Corralling messaging apps, email, Spotify accounts and so on up into the gods of the top monitor creates plenty of room for a more focused workspace on the bottom screen. But at the same time, you can still react swiftly to alerts from that upper deck. When in full upright mode, these monitors stand tall – some 70cm, in fact – so some flex will likely be needed. Either that, or a new cushion to raise your seat. If you invest in the Geminos T version, with the necessary drivers installed on your workstation, you can even use the touchscreen functionality of the bottom monitor.
ACTION HUB What allows all this to work is the Geminos stand, which also operates as a 10-in-1 multiport hub. The docking station at its base includes two USB-A and USB-C ports, two HDMI ports and a SD/TF Card slot. With 100W USB-C pass-through charging capability, the Geminos can charge a laptop while it’s docked. The base also has two 3W speakers built in, although we’d probably use some of that extra desk real estate you’ve acquired to put something a bit kinder on the ears either side. The sensation for the eyes is much better, with 1,920 x 1,080 resolution across each monitor with 60 Hertz refresh rates, 97% sRGB colour gamut and 250 nit adjustable brightness. I can already hear you crying out for 4K resolution, and it’s not a stretch to imagine this might be a development for future Geminos products, given that Mobile Pixels already produces its own 4K displays. It’s probably best to look at the Geminos in terms of productivity benefits rather than visual excellence – although with a bit of tinkering, the monitor is rich and clear. The sliding mechanism becomes second nature very quickly. I found it better than a VESA mount on a deskmounted arm, as the limited track of vertical movement meant it was easy to find a sweet spot for your different applications without tinkering for an age. Compared to a standard monitor stand, it
felt natural to grab and adjust the screen to find the angle that worked best for each task, whether that’s sitting back and writing an email or poring over the screen in more design-led work. The only negatives involve the product finish and brand experience. In this respect, Geminos provided a real contrast to the positive experience we had last month when testing the Xencelabs Pen Display 24. With the latter, product design and finish was impeccable and it was delivered in branded packaging, with black foam inlays neatly containing each cable and accessory. Geminos arrives more like a product intent on delivering function, rather than form, with some rough edges and less-than-premium materials. Unboxing the Geminos is equally uninspiring. Two white-label cardboard boxes contain poly grab bags of nonbranded cables that seem to have come directly out of a Shenzhen electrical supplier’s warehouse. Removable stickers that highlight different ports and the in-built webcam feature some quaint translation errors. Set-up with the included cables is quick enough, using either the two USB-C or HDMI cables to hook straight up to our laptop. However, we did have issues with the single-cable option, which requires a driver install to split the signal. I can’t imagine many IT security departments will be thrilled by the request from the driver to ‘record your screen’, so direct hardwiring is likely for the best. Once you’re up and running, the Geminos’ unique layout soon becomes second nature, leaving you to ponder whether you might hook up yet another Geminos (and, yes, this can be done) or what else you might fit in the space now vacated by a traditional second monitor. Priced at £517+VAT, the dual-screen Geminos falls firmly into the same price range as a single 4K professional monitor. However, what you sacrifice in resolution, you make up for with abundant screen space and fewer compromises when it comes to the state of both your available workspace and your neck.
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HARDWARE REVIEW
‘‘ With the
Geminos, the second screen is positioned just a quick glance upwards, and you can physically slide the bottom screen out towards you
’’
The Geminos offers 1,920 x 1,080 resolution across each monitor with 60Hz refresh rates
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LAST WORD
Mass customisation was one of the biggest promises made for 3D printing, but as Stephen Holmes writes, lack of demand is forcing more common-sense approaches when it comes to putting this technology to work
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espoke, limited-run, customised, mass-produced. Each of these descriptors carries an implication of value — not just monetary value, but also what a product will do for you, its buyer. A bespoke suit from Savile Row is something I’ve long dreamed of owning, especially at those times when I’ve been expected to squeeze my disorganised proportions — short legs, broad shoulders — into formalwear. Yet skilled craftsmanship like this comes at an eye-watering cost. The logical step down, the next best option, of course, is to have a mass-manufactured product customised. Taking my off-the-peg suits to a tailor certainly makes them fit far better, but it comes with some compromises when compared to a fully bespoke piece of tailoring. Depending on the product, a ‘limited-run’ item tends to offer a sense of exclusivity, rather than any major gains in functionality. A limited-run car, for example, is usually a standard model with extra colour options, maybe a handful of new trinkets. Bespoke it most certainly isn’t, but it still sits at a level above the norm.
Customisation is typically a choice made for aesthetic or dimensional requirements. There is little demand for a company that will clad your toaster in a tartan of your choice, or reduce the size of its outer casing to fit better on your kitchen worktop. Which circuitously leads me to the topic of 3D printing. Customisation is one of the areas where the technology was famously going to step in, allowing designers and consumers to bridge the gap between the mass-manufactured and the exclusive. But even products with purely functional, dimensional customisation needs, such as dental aligners, have struggled with 3D printing. As I write this, Smile Direct Club, one of the biggest users of additive manufacturing for creating such products, has just filed for bankruptcy. Meanwhile, options for visual customisation, such as MINI’s 3D-printed custom panels, to which car buyers could add text or symbols, no longer feature on the options list. Even much-hyped custom possibilities, such as shoe midsoles mapped to the weight of your step, or bike seats formed to fit your posterior and keep it in ultimate comfort, have not materialised, beyond a handful of expensive examples.
Without a driving need for personalisation for many products, the move towards customisation seems to have stalled
THE RIGHT FIT
Given the costperformance-quality criteria most of us apply to purchases, where do the products that you design fit? An element often missing is customisation. Unlike my off-the-peg suit, there is nowhere I can take my generic electrical product in order to have it customised. This is partly because few of us can imagine any reason why we’d want to do such a thing.
WHERE NEXT?
Without a driving need for personalisation for many products – in contrast, say, to medical devices – the move towards customisation seems to have stalled, taking with it a fundamental benefit of 3D printing: that every product can differ from the one previously built. Left without any real ideas for consumerfacing customisation, the 3D printing sector is now turning its attention to two other options: the unique and the mass-produced.
The latest high-value, low-volume products all look to utilise 3D printing. They include space-bound rocket engines and micro satellites, as well as earthbound consumer products, such as lightweight bicycle components. At the other end of the scale is mass production, with turnkey additive solutions for producing complex, detailed parts in the right volume and at the right price. These are areas growing at a brisk pace, as 3D printing finds a home in manufacturing niches where traditional methods are too awkward, too imprecise, too costly or even totally unworkable. How this feeds back into more general product design is yet to be seen. But as brands and OEMs become more comfortable with 3D printing, we’re likely to see increased adoption. And when this long-promised vision finally comes to fruition, then we can expect the value proposition inherent in terms like ‘bespoke’ and ‘mass produced’ to change, perhaps fundamentally. But don’t be expecting to get your hands on a tailored tartan toaster anytime soon.
Smile Direct Club’s commitment to 3D printing and customisation wasn’t enough to save its business model
GET IN TOUCH: Predicting a rough ride for 3D printing companies in 2024, Stephen still remains excited for where the technology is heading and what entirely new products it will enable designers to produce. On Twitter, he’s @swearstoomuch
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