Robotic AM System for Plastic Materials: Tuning and On-line Adjustment of Process Parameters

Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques based on thermoplastic polymer extrusion allow the manufacture of complex parts, but their slow printing speed limits their use for mass production. To overcome this drawback, an industrial screw-based extruder has been mounted on an anthropomorphic robot, realizing a flexible AM platform for big objects. The most important process parameters have been set by a suitable experimental campaign, ensuring a regular deposited layer geometry. A closed-loop control has been implemented to further improve the process parameter setting based on data measured during the deposition, in this way compensating the material withdrawal or other unexpected defects.