Computational Fabrication and Assembly for In Situ Manufacturing

TL;DR

This work outlines a cohesive program for in situ manufacturing by integrating three hierarchical strategies: machines, modules, and materials. It introduces LaserFactory, a multi-process fabrication platform that end-to-end manufactures functional devices by combining geometry creation, circuit tracing, and assembly within a single system, enabled by a hardware add-on, laser-sintered traces, and motion-based signaling. It then proposes modular self-assembly via electromagnetically actuated Electrovoxels for 3D reconfiguration in microgravity, supported by force models, a control interface, and flight demonstrations. Finally, it advances programmable materials through selective magnetic encodings and a Hadamard-based coding framework that enables passive self-assembly and even cross-material application to DNA origami. Together, these contributions demonstrate rapid, on-demand fabrication and assembly at multiple scales and lay groundwork for autonomous, on-site production in space and at points of need on Earth, with significance for rapid prototyping, resilience, and tailored hardware delivery.

Abstract

Fabrication today relies on disparate, large machines spread across industrial facilities. These are operated by domain experts to construct and assemble artefacts in sequential steps from large numbers of parts. This traditional, centralized mass manufacturing paradigm is characterized by large capital costs and inflexibility to changing needs, complex global supply chains hinged on economic and political stability, and waste and over-manufacturing of uniform artefacts that fail to meet the technical and personal needs of today's diverse individuals and use cases. Today, these challenges are particularly severe at points of need, such as the space environment. The space environment is remote and unpredictable, and the ability to manufacture in situ offers unique opportunities to address new challenges as they arise. However, the challenges faced in space are often mirrored on Earth. In hospitals, disaster zones, low resource environments and laboratories, the ability to manufacture customized artefacts at points of need can significantly enhance our ability to respond rapidly to unforeseen events. In this thesis, I introduce digital fabrication platforms with co-developed hardware and software that draw on tools from robotics and human-computer interaction to automate manufacturing of customized artefacts at the point of need. Highlighting three research themes across fabrication machines, modular assembly, and programmable materials, the thesis will cover a digital fabrication platform for producing functional robots, a modular robotic platform for in-space assembly deployed in microgravity, and a method for programming magnetic material to selectively assemble.

Figures (50)

• Figure 1: Automating fabrication and assembly at three levels: at the Machine level, at the Part level, and at the Material level. This thesis will outline methods that demonstrate these hierarchical assembly techniques using three platforms: (1) multi-process manufacturing machines, (2) modular assembly platforms, and (3) programmable materials.
• Figure 2: LaserFactory is an integrated fabrication process that creates fully functional devices. (a) Our hardware add-on to an existing laser cutter consists of a silver dispenser and pick-and-place mechanism and allows the machine to not only cut geometry, but also create circuit traces and assemble electronic components. Our accelerometer-based motion classifier enables the add-on to interface with the laser cutter without the need to change the underlying firmware. (b) To cure the deposited silver traces, we developed a laser sintering method that uses the heat of the defocused laser to make the traces conductive. (c) After laser sintering, the fabricated device is fully functional.
• Figure 3: Making a Device with LaserFactory: (a) Cutting the device geometry, (b) dispensing silver to form the circuit traces, (c) picking-and-placing the components, here a quadcopter’s rotor, and (d) curing the uncured silver traces. (e) When the last trace is cured, the device is fully functional; here, the quadcopter lifts directly off from the platform.
• Figure 4: Our hardware add-on shown as (a) a CAD rendering and (b) a photo of the physical device. The add-on consists of a silver dispenser to create circuit traces and a pick-and-place mechanism to assemble electronic components. It attaches to the laser head, which is used to create the device's geometry and to cure the circuit traces. The image also shows the accelerometer used for detecting the motion signaling when the add-on should start/stop its operation.
• Figure 5: LaserFactory can be used to create (a) 2.5D geometries via folding, (b) as well as discretized 3D geometries via cutting and pick-and-placing the material substrate itself.