Swinburne’s Repairbot project has achieved a major milestone, using a robot to successfully 3D print a replacement lug on an automotive headlamp. The Repairbot project is an industry collaboration with Tradiebot, backed by the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC).

An in-house formulated polypropylene composite material was used in the process and was developed by Swinburne’s materials scientist Dr Mostafa Nikzad. Dr Nikzad and his team had the challenge of creating a material with the right characteristics for 3D printing polypropylene, as well as the strength and toughness required to meet automotive quality standards.

The new material has enabled the robotics team, led by Swinburne’s Dr Mats Isaksson, to engineer the 3D print of a replacement lug directly on a headlight housing by using a robotic arm. The robotic arm precisely manipulates the headlight under a stationary 3D print head. These types of robotic assistance jobs add value to an industry impacted by skills shortages and a lack of newly skilled personnel.

It also opens the door in the automotive repair industry for technicians to be able to work alongside robotics systems which can in turn fast-track their on-the-job training.

Tradiebot founder Mario Dimovski said, “It’s amazing to witness something I envisioned three years ago becoming reality. It was such a complex project with many challenges to overcome. The Repairbot will allow repairs to be conducted on damaged automotive plastic parts not currently repairable by technicians. The benefits will affect repair shops, consumers and flow on to the environment diverting these damaged parts from landfill. It’s a win, win for everyone.”

The project is still 18 months away from being used in workshops and is now moving into the next stage of testing. Repairbot has drawn interest from all pockets of the repair industry and other industries including defence. Early talks are under way with a range of potential users of the system including OEMs, repair facilities and parts suppliers.

Source: http://www.paintandpanel.com.au/news/news/robot-3d-prints-replacement-bracket-onto-headlight?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20-%2011319&utm_content=Newsletter%20-%2011319+CID_3b6b710c86361be603d0ca7c3b6ba8fe&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20softwa

18 Mar 2019