Mike O'Reilly, Optomec Director - Aerosol Jet Product Management, gave a presentation at the RAPID conference entitled, "3D Printed Electronics - Functionalizing Smart Devices Which are Empowering the Industrial Internet of Things." Dr. Richard Grylls, Optomec LENS General Manager, presented information on the Hybrid LENS CNC machining center.
In O'Reilly's presentation, he discussed how there are currently 50B+ connected Smart Devices today with an expected 13B new units/year through 2019. Connected devices require antennas and smart devices require sensors. His presentation explained how Optomec Aerosol Jet high volume 3-D printing systems are used in mainstream production today to manufacture antennas and sensors, delivering lower production costs than conventional production methods.
Dr. Grylls discussed how integrating advanced 3-D metal printing technology within a new or used CNC machine tool enables a non-disruptive and cost effective approach to speed adoption of 3-D printing within existing production environments. Recently, under a project funded by America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII), Optomec and its partners unveiled a legacy Fadal vertical mill upgraded with LENS 3D metal printing technology. The Hybrid LENS CNC machining center utilizes an interface familiar to the machinist and enables both additive and subtractive processes to be performed on the same metal part on the same machine.
Optomec's Aerosol Jet printers are used to directly print functional electronic circuitry and components onto low-temperature, non-planar substrates, without the need for masks, screens or plating. The Aerosol Jet process utilizes an aerodynamic focusing technique to collimate a dense mist of material-laden micro droplets into a tightly controlled beam to print features as small as 10 microns or as large as several millimeters in a single pass. A wide assortment of materials can be printed with the aerosol jet system including conductive nano-particle inks and conductive polymers, dielectrics, conductive epoxies, ceramics and bio-active materials. Aerosol Jet systems are used to print signal and power circuits, embedded sensors, conformal antenna and fuel cells and to dispense conductive adhesives for solder-free attachment of integrated circuits and other components.
Optomec LENS 3D metal printers are used to repair, rework and manufacture high-performance metal components in materials such as titanium, stainless steel and super alloys. LENS printers use the energy from a high-power laser to build up structures one layer at a time directly from powdered metals. "The resulting fully functional metal structures offer excellent mechanical properties, similar to forged components for many applications," said a company spokesperson. "LENS printers are used throughout the entire product lifecycle for applications ranging from materials research to repair and rework to low volume manufacturing."
For more information contact:
Optomec
3911 Singer NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
505-761-8250
www.optomec.com