2023-11-28 23:48:00
Inkbit has started rolling out Vision Controlled Jetting printing technology. ProductionToGo is one of the first in Europe to have access to a Vista machine from the American group. Initially to print parts for potential customers so that they can become acquainted with the technology in an accessible manner and to convince 3D printing service agencies.
When you talked to people at Formnext regarding the industrialization of 3D printing, you often heard the term cost per part traps. These costs must be reduced to compete with other technologies. Davide Marini, co-founder and CEO of Inkbit, thinks that Vision Controlled Jetting is the answer to this. The technology is more accurate and faster than traditional inkjet techniques; wax is used for support so that post-processing is automated; and thanks to a patented algorithm, Inkbit achieves a build job with a fill of up to 40%, while the technology does not allow the build job to be completely filled in height. The latter gives print service agencies flexibility.
Vision Controlled Jetting according to Davide Marini jumped into a new era of production
Scalable platform
“And our Vista platform is scalable, which has already been proven with industrial 2D printing applications,” says Davide Marini. The 3D printer from the American group currently works with 16 print heads, each with 1,000 nozzles that are individually checked and adjusted. These numbers can be further expanded if necessary. “We are therefore looking at medium-sized volumes in production.”
Vision checks every drop
The 3D printing technology developed at MIT in Boston differs from standard material jetting because the deposition of each drop is controlled with a vision system. This vision system scans each layer that is printed and detects height differences of 10 microns. The amount of material that is jetted into the next layer is adjusted accordingly, resulting in higher print accuracy. The algorithm of the Vista printer calculates in real time to what extent a nozzle needs to be adjusted at the next layer to keep the build-up even. This produces 2GB of data per second. The real know-how lies in processing this Inkbit. Davide Marini: “Developing the computer hardware and the algorithm has been the most difficult part of the development.”
Higher accuracy and surface quality
Because the Inkbit Vista system can so accurately control the jetting of each droplet of 20 to 30 µm diameter, the system prints with high dimensional accuracy and surface quality. This makes it suitable for printing very fine details and the combination of various material properties in one print. Davide Marini labels the VCJ technology as a qualitative change in the field of additive manufacturing because it allows very fine and accurate details to be printed in 3D. “We are closing the gap between the elegantly refined structures we admire in nature and our ability to replicate them synthetically. This is a leap into a new era of production,” continues Marini. He attributes this to the use of Artificial Intelligence in combination with 3D scanning technology. This digital closed-loop feedback control eliminates the need for mechanical solutions to flatten a new layer first.
Other polymers
In addition, this allows Inkbit to print with slow-curing chemicals that build the polymer chain more precisely. These are not acrylics but performance polymers with stable properties. This allows the VCJ to directly print complex, multi-material parts with a wide range of mechanical properties, with accuracy and precision. The Inkbit Vista platform prints with up to 4 materials in one workpiece. At Formnext, Inkbit presented a new material: TEPU 50A, a semi-soft elastomer with a shore value of 50A. It is the second elastomer, previously a TEPU with a shore value of 30A has been released for the Vista system. Inkbit has so far developed the materials itself because no good alternatives can be found on the market. The material portfolio now also includes an epoxy that is characterized by high stiffness and tensile strength, properties that are maintained at temperatures up to 120 degrees C.
Automation
Wax is used as support material. It is liquefied with heat. This allows Inkbit to automate the post-processing step following printing. This wax can then be reused. Davide Marini sees this as an important advantage of VCJ technology for industrial production, because unpacking a build job is no longer manual work.
3D printing service bureaus in Europe
Applications that Inkbit will initially focus on include grippers for robots, complex flow channels for fluid applications, gaskets for the automotive industry and components for industrial automation. Inkbit has now installed the first Vista systems. Saint Gobain, one of the investors next to Stratasys, which is the largest investor in Inkbit, has one. In the US there is one at 3D printing service agency Makelab. In Europe it is ProductionToGo designated as the reseller for the DACH region. ProductionToGo, which is also active in the Benelux, will receive an Inkbit Vista system to do printing work for service agencies and OEMs in Europe. Davide Marini: “We are working on contracts with European print service agencies. They mainly look for certainty regarding the technology before they buy the machine themselves. We now offer that opportunity.” In Europe, he sees particular interest from the automotive and robotics industries and the medical sector, such as the dental industry. Inkbit has a biocompatible material in its portfolio that does not yet have FDA approval.
Inkbit recently partnered with ETH Zurich an article regarding the VCJ technology published in Nature.
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