“3D: Printing the future” - London Science Museum 2013
Over the
summer of 2013 the EPSRC Centre in Additive Manufacture (AM), hosted by the
University of Nottingham, opened its doors to twelve Undergraduate interns. The
interns were split into groups, each focusing on different areas of research,
working closely with the academic/research staff and the equipment available.
The design team were given the task to ‘Develop a showpiece illustrating the
capability of Multi-material Additive Manufacturing’.
This
project brief was set to showcase the EPSRC Centre’s activities in an
exhibition at the London Science Museum, “3D: Printing the future”. Together
with their supervisors the interns felt a 3D printed bionic arm would be an
ideal application to demonstrate a futuristic and interesting design generated
via the AM techniques.
The underlying
aim of the multi-functional AM is to deposit dissimilar materials, such as polymers
and metals, within a single process step. This capability allows the embedding
of conductive tracks and electronic components. Thus, the design of the bionic
arm features representations of internal electronic routings and components
such as actuators, sensors and batteries to conceptualise a working active
prosthetic. The goal was to produce a tangible and useful product demonstrating
how multifunctional 3D Printing can be harnessed to serve the future user
community.
The form
of the conceptual prosthetic was developed by observing and analysing the form
of the natural human arm and the movements that could be produced. Findings
from research were incorporated into conceptual sketches, which were then
modelled in CAD. Topology optimisation became a useful tool for design,
assessing stresses and forces, to remove excess material. This not only helped
in reducing the overall weight of the arm but also assisted in obtaining stiff design
configurations.
The research group is very pleased with the outcome of this project. The
conceptual prosthetic is currently being shown at the Science museum in London and
was featured prominently at the 3D Printing Shows in London, and Paris.