Large-Scale FDM 3D Printing in 6 Degrees of Freedom on One ARM KUKA KR 60

Abstract

3D printing is widely used due to its versatility and low manufacturing cost, but this manufacturing method has limitations such as the use of only 3 degrees of freedom that consists of extrusion by layers contained in the XY plane with displacement high on the Z-axis. On the other hand, there is the printing volume which is reduced, and finally the loss of material that occurs when having supports. Next, a versatile procedure is presented, which is mounted on a KUKA KR60 robotic arm, with which complex surfaces can be printed and of a larger size with the help of the robot arm's work area, parts with concave surfaces, and convex where printing supports are removed. This proposal intended to have a printer mounted on a KUKA KR60 robotic arm with which you can have 6 degrees of freedom, and use approximately the cubic meter of freedom that the arm has. This achieves prints with greater complexity and volume of approximately 1 m3, in addition to being able to eliminate the waste of material that occurs in conventional 3D printing. Also, in parallel, it is possible to generate the codes for a generic printing plate that is compatible with G-CODE and for the robotic arm module.