Wide Format news 1-2017

it more practical in space. “Namely, faster speeds, increasing the
range of materials, improving the integrity of printed parts, and
making it easier to use. However, some things like ease of use
are actually less important in space because the zero-G 3D printer
is almost entirely remotely operated by experts. All the astronaut
need do is say, ‘I need such and such’ and the ground teams will
use the printer to make it so.”
materials.”
NASA/JPL is seeking partnerships with companies and
universities to make new materials for 3D printing, which is a
commercial development, Soderstrom added. There is quality
assurance with materials to validate that the material will work.
“One of the most interesting things is that when we send
something into space, it’s extremely risky, so we demonstrate that
it’s going to work as much as we can. So there is a lot of QA. We
will x-ray the materials to assure there’s no problem with it.”
Borgonia said that polymers are a good “show and tell” toy,
but can 3D-printed titanium parts behave similar to the wrought
version of the material? It’s something JPL is working with the
America Makes Consortium to determine (so far, titanium does
behave similarly).
Dramatic innovation
LavaHive, designed by the LavaHive team in the 3D Printed Habitat Challenge Design
Competition, won third place in the NASA-awarded competition, using a ‘lava-casting’
construction
Changing methods
An engineer designing a component of part with subtractive
manufacturing is classically trained to understand how to do
it, said John Paul Borgonia, Technologist at JPL Materials
Developments and Manufacturing Technology Group.
“There are some limitations to that type of manufacturing,”
Borgonia said. “With additive, it completely changes their way
of thinking as engineers, because there are features that would
not have been possible to add to the hardware without additive
manufacturing. Take, for example, I want a particular structure.
Now, I want the actual inside of that structure to be cellular. With
additive manufacturing, those features can be added.”
In space, materials become important as it is super-hot and
super-cold and airless, so they have to handle all that, Soderstrom
noted. Now robots that fly, swim and climb are being made with
more speed, in contrast to the delay in sending out plans and would
take a week to come back. “This cycle that used to take weeks,
now that we have the multi-material printer in house, that cycle
that used to take six weeks is now a day and a half.”
Soderstrom says innovative things are being done with 3D
printing of food. One of his favourite devices is the “Star Trek”
replicator. “How
far away is that? It
may not be that far.
It all comes down
to material, and I
think being able to
experiment with
new materials is
something that’s
extremely important
Jason Dunn, CTO of Made In Space (foreground) and Mike
Snyder, Director of Research and Development (background) work
on the 3D printer sent to operate in the microgravity of the
International Space Station (courtesy of Made In Space)
for us in space and
here at JPL. We at
JPL are working
quite heavily now
by looking at new
Soderstrom says now, designs can be done over the internet with
programmes through Thingiverse or similar websites, and with
social networks, there is a collaboration that has never been done
before. He says 3D printing is enabling us being on “the very cusp
or dramatic innovation”. Kohlenberg says with the research efforts
at Made In Space, they hope to expedite humanity’s ability to
survive any potential future events that could jeopardise life on
earth.
“As we develop solutions for living sustainably in space, we
can take those lessons of sustainability back to earth and better live
on a planet with finite resources. In the very near term, we hope
that our research leads to more products like Made In Space - Fibre
On the right is the 3D printer by Made In Space launched to the International Space
Station in 2014, and on the left is an electronics box that supplies power and stores data.
The printer was deemed successful in 3D zero-gravity printing, and another larger 3D
printer is currently at the ISS (courtesy of Made In Space)
Optics with clear and tangible economic benefits that can further
enable our long term vision.”
Soderstrom says it’s about future thinking, with one of the
key things considering how 3D printing can help NASA/JPL
stakeholders - the public.
“In fact, it’s all of humanity. Being able to engage the public
and all of humanity in the idea of ‘What could we do with 3D
printing?’ is one of the goals, and we’ve had quite a few of those
already, but I think we’re just scratching the surface. All of the
innovation that is happening in 3D printing in industry and homes
throughout the world and in universities is really going to help us
a lot.”
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