UK-based robotics firmQ5D Technology已经获得了250万美元的种子资金，以资助开发新的多功能布线和电子3D打印机。
Known as the ‘CU500,’ the 5-axis FFF system features a changeable toolhead that can be adapted for the rapid deposition of either polymers, metal pastes or wiring, onto large aerospace and automotive parts or electronic devices.
Using the capital provided byChrysalix Venture Capital,SOSV和theUK Innovation & Science Seed Fund, Q5D now plans to refine the CU500. Specifically, with further iteration, the firm believes its machine could be used to create wire harnesses and conformally add conductive tracks to parts, by clients across multiple industries.
“The rapid electrification of our transport systems and the increasing functionality of everything from washing machines to mobile phones, means that wiring is becoming more complex and labor-intensive,” said Stephen Bennington, Co-founder of Q5D Technology. “We are really pleased to have the chance to work with all our new investors, they are bringing a wealth of commercial and governance experience that will keep us focused and grow the company in the right way.”
Flexible, five-axis robotic 3D printing
Q5D Technology was founded in 2019, following a series of meetings of theBessemer Society, a group composed of serial company founders, innovators and CEOs. Through these summits,CEL-UK, having previously launched aKickstarter的Robox 3D打印机, began seeking a solution for a new 5-axis platform it was developing, that was then reliant on an oven-cured silver paste feedstock.
为了解决这个问题，Cel-UK开始与M-Solv, which had developed a technology that could cure and sinter less-expensive copper inks using a laser, with the firms eventually agreeing to join forces, thus Q5D Technology was born.
因此，Cu500配有其机器人5轴构型以及可互换的聚合物，银和兼容兼容的打印头，因此可以被视为它们的综合劳动。从本质上讲，该机器旨在自动化布线线束的生产，这些线束通常是手动生产的，从白色商品到战斗机。
According to Q5D Technology, the CU500 is able to achieve this thanks to its built-in end effect-changer, which allows it to switch from depositing polymers or pastes to carrying out sintering, embedding or jetting on a single integrated platform. This setup also enables the machine to add layers to existing parts in a conformal fashion, unlocking the production of continuous prints with complex 3D shapes.
除生产线束外，Q5D技术还说，CU500也能够嵌入电线，以创建具有功率和数据应用程序的设备，例如光纤传感器和多模式数据纤维，或远离电子产品世界，它也可以将碳或玻璃纤维加固添加到汽车或航空航天组件中。
Q5D Technology’s funding round
Unsurprisingly, one of those that supported Q5D Technology’s funding round was SOSV, a long-term investor in the firm, that has previously not only provided it with pre-seed financing, but is credited with mentoring it via the ‘HAX’ start-up program.
与此同时，Chrysalix Venture Capital是该公司资本筹集的最大贡献者，它具有支持制造业和机器人公司等公司的记录Sortera Alloys和Applied Impact Robotics. The investor could therefore be an ideal partner for helping market the CU500’s capabilities, and although Q5D Technology’s claims of being able to “transform the wiring industry” may seem premature, its tech has attracted the attention of major players across automotive and aerospace.
Already, the company is said to be working with the likes of satellite manufacturerOxford Space Systemsas well asprolific 3D printing adopterSafran. Q5D Technology is also set to partner with莱沃斯,University of Exeter,victrex,FDM Digital和GRM Consulting, through a project established to develop new materials and processes for theoverprinting of high-performance polymers.
“Q5D has an exciting opportunity to transform an area of manufacturing that has proven stubbornly difficult to automate and we are looking forward to working with the Q5D team,” added Dr. Charles Haythornthwaite, a Senior Partner at Chrysalix Venture Capital. “Additive manufacturing is bringing new capabilities to manufacturers but it’s relatively rare to see such a strong value proposition for mass production.”
Previous multi-axes printers
Thanks to the conformal 3D printing capabilities that come with multi-axis robotic systems, it should come as no surprise that Q5D Technology isn’t the first to build such a 3D printing-integrated machine. In 2016 Stratasys displayed the 8-axisContinuous Build 3D Demonstrator,Stratasys那年IMT。
Essentially, the system flipped the traditional FDM process on its side, enabling parts to be produced on a vertical plane with much longer geometries, in a methodology, Stratasys labeled as the “infinite build” process. At the time, the machine’s freeform approach was also said to allow for ultra-precise part-strengthening via material placement, as well as being up to ten times faster than other FDM printers.
In 2019,GKN Aerospaceunveiled its own large-scale8-axis 3D printing production cell. Commissioned as part of a $17.8 million agreement withOak Ridge National Laboratory,aptly-named ‘Cell 2’ was powered by laser metal deposition with wire technology, and designed to produce aircraft parts at a reduced ‘buy-to-fly’ ratio.
在其他地方，NSCRypt的“工具中的工厂”系统还可以在共形表面上进行3D打印电子设备，并具有可互换的工具头。使用这些新的“ SmartPump”中的最新产品，该公司机器的采用者现在能够将电路连接，天线，应变测量值和传感器直接打印到弯曲或不规则形状的底物上。
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Featured image shows Q5D Technology’s CU500 3D printer. Photo via Q5D Technology.
