Nettekoven, Alexander (The University of Texas at Austin), Topcu, Ufuk (The University of Texas at Austin)

A 3D Printing Hexacopter: Design and Demonstration

Scheduled for presentation during the Regular Session "Manned/Unmanned Aviation and UAS Testbeds" (FrD1), Friday, June 18, 2021, 17:00−17:20, Macedonia Hall

2021 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), June 15-18, 2021, Athens, Greece

This information is tentative and subject to change. Compiled on April 26, 2024

Abstract

3D printing using robots has garnered significant interest in manufacturing and construction in recent years. A robot's versatility paired with the design freedom of 3D printing offers promising opportunities for how parts and structures are built in the future. However, 3D printed objects are still limited in size and location due to a lack of vertical mobility of ground robots. These limitations severely restrict the potential of the 3D printing process. To overcome these limitations, we develop a hexacopter testbed that can print via fused deposition modeling during flight. We discuss the design of this testbed and develop a simple control strategy for initial print tests. By successfully performing these initial print tests, we demonstrate the feasibility of this approach and lay the groundwork for printing 3D parts and structures with drones. A video for one of the initial print tests can be found at https://youtu.be/tEooDpE2TyE.