MIT Researchers Create 3D Printer That Produces Working Electric Motors in 3 Hours

MIT researchers have created a multi-material 3D printing platform capable of producing a fully functional linear electric motor in approximately three hours. 

According to an MIT news release, the system has been engineered to process various functional materials, including electrically and magnetically conductive materials, using four extrusion tools that can handle different types of printable material. The printer switches between the extruders, which feed material through nozzles as it builds an object layer by layer.

The system achieves a fully 3D-printed electric linear motor at about 50 cents per unit and requires only one post-processing step to achieve full functionality.

According to MIT, many multimaterial extrusion 3D printing systems can switch only between two materials that come in the same form, such as filament or pellets. Knowing this limitation, MIT's researchers had to create their own printing system. They retrofitted an existing printer with four extruders, each capable of handling a different type of feedstock.

“This is a great feat, but it is just the beginning. We have an opportunity to fundamentally change the way things are made by making hardware on-site in one step, rather than relying on a global supply chain. With this demonstration, we've shown that this is feasible,” said Luis Fernando Velásquez-García, a principal research scientist in MIT's Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL), in a news release. Velásquez-García is the senior author of a paper describing the 3D-printing platform, which appears in Virtual and Physical Prototyping.

After they fine-tuned the printing platform, the researchers created a linear motor, which produces straight-line motion (in contrast to a rotating motor, such as the one found in a vehicle). Linear motors are used in applications such as pick-and-place robotics, optical systems, and baggage conveyers.

The researchers said they foresee broader implications for electronics manufacturing, including on-site production and diminished dependence on disrupted supply chains.