Neurotechnology/ YouTube
Neurotechnology ultrasonic 3d printing
Dr Osvaldas Putkis explains the research group's patent-pending ultrasonic 3D printing technology.
Researchers in ultrasound working under Neurotechnology, a company providing algorithms and software products, have announced the development of an ultrasonic 3D printing method.
The group, based in Lithuania, have a patent pending for the technology, which they project will enable the printing and assembly of objects of all types, electrical elements and all.
With its non-contact nature, ultrasonic manipulation is considered a suitable technology to harness, especially in the case of small particles in submillimetre range, and more sensitive components. Handled without implementing any damage, the group believes its method can be used in many different prototyping and manufacturing scenarios.
Dr Osvaldas Putkis, Research Engineer and Project Lead, Neurotechnology, imagines a smartphone being printed on a single device, in a single build. The small, sensitive, complex parts, such as the electronics that enable the phone to function, as well as the casing, could all be produced seamlessly thanks to their technology.
“Say you have an array of ultrasonic transducers that emit ultrasonic waves and you can control all the transducers individually, then you can create certain pressure profiles in there that can trap, rotate, move particles or components,” Dr Putkis explains in a company YouTube video. “Essentially, it’s a non-contact gripper, and that has several advantages. It can handle a variety of different materials, ranging from metals, plastics, down to even liquids.
“And not only can it manipulate material particles, it can also handle components, such as, electronic components. Other non-contact methods, based on magnetic or electrostatic forces, can’t offer such versatility.”
Neurotechnology/ YouTube
Neurotechnology ultrasonic 3D printing
With its non-contact nature, ultrasonic manipulation is considered a suitable technology to harness, especially in the case of small particles in submillimetre range, and more sensitive components.
This versatility goes even further such is the technology’s ability to manipulate particles of super-millimetre range. Handling these small components mechanically is often difficult, due to the electrostatic forces at play, for example sensitive components that can break easily.
“This is not an issue for ultrasonic manipulation because it’s a non-contact method,” continues Dr Putkis. “It can reach high accuracies and precision, which is mainly limited by your feedback mechanism. For instance, if you use 40 kilohertz of ultrasonic waves, ideally you can reach accuracies down to tens of microns and if you use even higher frequencies even higher accuracies can be reached.”
With years of research behind the group, Putkis says they have gained theoretical knowledge and technological experience in getting the best out of ultrasonic manipulation techniques. For their 3D printing method, they have built an early prototype, and have tested the method by producing electrical printed circuit boards (PCBs).
“This device here can assemble small, simple, electronic circuits,” Putkis says. “It has an array of ultrasonic transducers which individually emit ultrasonic waves [which] are used to manipulate electronic components and move them to desired positions. We also have a camera which detects the position of the component and finally we have a laser which is used to solder the elements onto the PCB board in a non-contact way.”
Putkis explains that the PCB is first placed inside the device. Its position and orientation detected by the camera, the electrical elements are dispensed individually. These elements are transported by ultrasonic, filed to their pre-determined destinations within the part, and then the laser comes in to solder them. The laser is also calibrated with the camera, and within minutes, a fully functional electronic circuit is produced.
