Speaker
Description
Large format, on-orbit additive manufacturing (AM) and assembly is actively being considered as a modular solution that facilitates resource efficient manufacturing, operations, and servicing in space. Customizable structures that can be manufactured in space bring a myriad of benefits that can significantly contribute towards sustainable space missions. To realize this, a novel AM approach to freeform fabricate large, functional structures in space has been developed. Combining the reach of a free-flying CubeSat with a collaborative robotic arm and a 3D printing head, large support-free structures can be manufactured, with dimensions vastly exceeding the printing setup itself. The feasibility of this fabrication approach was established through experiments conducted via the Experimental Lab for Proximity Operations and Space Situational Awareness (ELISSA). Large, support-free, truss structures were 3D printed using a modified Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) setup in conjunction with a free-flying satellite mock-up. Using a continuous navigation path incorporating an infinite fabrication loop, meter-scale, support-free trusses were produced to demonstrate the potential of the proposed method in scalable, boundless direct printing of complex structures, independent of gravity or printing orientation. The proposed approach offers great flexibility due to the unconstrained build volume of the setup along with the flexibility afforded, not just in the structures that could be printed, but also the manufacturing processes and the feedstock used.
