Development of a Desktop Hybrid Multipurpose Grinding and 3D Printing Machine for Educational Purposes

Manufacturing is a constantly changing field where new innovations and continuous improvements ensure competitiveness. Recent manufacturing revolutions include additive manufacturing and the empowerment of Do It Yourself (DIY) users. This paper reports on the development of a desktop hybrid machine that incorporates subtractive and additive manufacturing principles, in particular grinding and wire extrusion. Due to the small machine size of less than 1 m3 and use of modular components it will be applicable in small scale operations and will have a low energy footprint. The article discusses the initial design and further improvements which have been done as senior design capstone projects, through summer internships and team work of graduate and undergraduate students. The first generation machine will be improved by stronger motor modules of up to 1.8Nm torque compared to 0.7Nm and new module connections that can be 3D printed instead of sheet metal connections. Future versions of the machine will have even more printable components. The machine control has been built on NI LabVIEW to enable path planning, machine control, manual steering, and integration of closed-loop algorithms on one standard platform.