Speaker 0 00:00:00 With the latest advancements in additive manufacturing, we can now use technologies like HP's, multi-jet fusion to create lightweight airtight high-performance parts for robotics.
Speaker 1 00:00:14 Hello everyone. And welcome to the robot industry podcast. My name is Jim Beretta and I'm your host. My guest today is Liz starstruck from Hewlett Packard. She and I met with Derek at the ATX Anaheim show a few years ago, and I was really impressed with the end of arm tools that they had on display. So today we're going to talk about end of arm tools and about the efficacy of using printed tools as robot and effectors, where they fit and how integrators and robot designers can get started. Liz starts from is a 3d printing application engineer with expertise in HP's multi jet fusion technology for industrial applications. She has a background in mechanical design and joined HP to support the development of the J F 500 series. She now utilizes that experience to find optimal solutions for customers aiming to push their businesses to the next level with additive manufacturing, Liz receive her B S N M S in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon university, and currently resides in Portland, Oregon, Liz, thanks for coming onto the podcast.
Speaker 0 00:01:18 Thanks so much, Jim. Happy to be here. Well,
Speaker 1 00:01:21 Let's talk about 3d P and then we'll talk about robot end of arm tools that are 3d printed, but can you give our audience some background on some of the terms we're going to be using today? So some definitions, like what is FDM?
Speaker 0 00:01:35 Absolutely. So, you know, when most people think about 3d printing, um, they tend to think about FDM, which is fused deposition modeling, which is also called FFF fused filament fabrication. So I kind of think of that as the glue gun method, you're basically heating and extruding material through a nozzle, and that nozzle is moving around a print bed. So you're effectively building that part up layer by layer. And this is, you know, this is a great technology it's been around for over 20 years. It's easy to use, there's even desktop versions available. So you might even have one in your, and
Speaker 1 00:02:10 We talk about 3d P like everybody should know what that means.
Speaker 0 00:02:14 Right? Exactly. And in reality, 3d printing actually consists of many more technologies than just FDM and they all function in very different ways. Of course, the common thread is that you're adding material together to form that part rather than subtracting, um, like what you would do with a machine part. And that's also why we refer to it as additive manufacturing, especially when we're talking about higher volume, industrial level 3d printing. So, you know, just for reference a few other 3d printing technologies, um, for plastics would be SLA, DLP, SLS, and many others. And most recently from about five years ago, we have MJF or multi-jet fusion. So this was actually a technology developed by HP and their main purpose was to address some of the industry's challenges. So things like being able to make really highly durable parts consistently affordably and at higher volumes. Um, and so it's similar to SLS, which is selective laser centering in that it's also a powder bed fusion technology. Um, and that just means that we're spreading thin layers of powdered material onto a print bed, and then selectively fusing that material to form the part. And the way we do this actually is by leveraging our 2d inkjet, printhead technology and printing fusing and detailing agents onto that bit of material, and then using infrared lamps to kind of heat up and fuse all of those areas that we put that fusing agent
Speaker 1 00:03:56 Liz. One of the interesting things about 3d printing is actually getting started in 3d printing when you're actually doing the print on the print bed. Can you tell our audience a little bit about that and some of the intricacies
Speaker 0 00:04:08 Absolutely. So to get started, I mean, it really starts with design, right. Um, and you can do that in pretty much any software program that you're comfortable with. So that could be CAD software design software, essentially, as long as you can, uh, export a file in a mesh format. So like SDL three MF, for example, um, from there you might even want to get into a software that allows you some more capabilities, like, uh, doing lattice design or generative design in order to provide you some more options for like lightweighting parts. At that point, you'll essentially need to build that build volume. So you could do that. You know, HP has a software called HP smart stream, 3d build manager. We've also seen a lot of folks use Materialise magics or, uh, Autodesk's Netfabb and you're basically putting your parts together in that build volume and then sending that file to,
Speaker 1 00:05:11 And when you're printing a 3d parts, a lot of times people want to bulk up a bunch of 3d parts, uh, together in a, in a print session. Is that true?
Speaker 0 00:05:21 It really depends on the technology. So this is one thing I'll probably say a lot, because again, there's so many different technologies and they all work so differently when we're specifically talking about HPS MJF. It is true that to get the most out of that build volume in terms of efficiency and cost, you do want to fit as many parts into that volume as you can, within reason, um, giving the parts enough space between them. But that way you're just getting the most out of that build, build volume in terms of throughput and also cost per part.
Speaker 1 00:05:57 So three DP is very cool technology, but what's standing in the way from kind of your perspective, like what, this is one of the things that you do all day, right?
Speaker 0 00:06:05 Absolutely. I, you know, from my point of view, I think one of the biggest hurdles is just awareness. Um, you know, I think a lot of people still think about 3d printing as this novelty, you know, maybe it can be used for prototyping, but we're not totally convinced that it has the high level of quality of parts that, you know, we would need for, um, production or end use parts. And in reality, there's been a lot of development and innovation in this industry, especially like in the last 10 years with industry 4.0 and all of these advancements we're seeing. So I think we're finally at this stage where 3d printed parts can be used for end use applications, um, not just in, you know, manufacturing automation, but also other areas like medical automotive consumer spaces. Um, but you know, I totally understand this is a daunting space to jump into if you're not familiar with it. So a couple recommendations that I would give to really be successful, I would say first, um, when we're talking about industrial applications, we really need to be working with industrial level 3d printing. The second is simply identifying the right applications for 3d, you know, we know that not every part is going to be the right fit. Um, but it's really important to figure out where it's going to work the best. And then the last would be designing for the process. And again, that's going to depend on the technology that you're actually working with.
Speaker 1 00:07:37 And so when you are doing things like this podcast today, uh, who is your favorite target audience? Are they the applications engineers? Are they the robot owners? Are they teachers like who, who is your target audience,
Speaker 0 00:07:51 To be honest, all of the above, right. I mean, I think from my perspective, my background's in design engineering, so that's kind of the lens that I see things in, and I can definitely understand design engineers coming into this approaching design problems, not really understanding the extent of the manufacturing options that are available to them. Uh, but at the same time we need, you know, the leaders who can recognize like the business value, the advantages of these technologies to actually push that into their organizations as well. Um, so it's really all, you know, all of the above and to your point, it needs to also start on the education side, like in colleges and schools, you know, we need to teach our students about 3d printing before they even get into the industry. In the first place.
Speaker 1 00:08:42 You mentioned that 3d printing is also industry 4.0, what do you mean by that?
Speaker 0 00:08:48 Right. So industry 4.0, um, it just refers to all of the, these latest industrial trends the last decade or so, uh, pushing towards digitization and, uh, using data analytics. So, you know, that of course includes 3d printing, but also things like artificial intelligence, um, internet of things, big data, uh, and then also robotics. And specifically for robotics, you know, we've seen huge growth in robotics as more and more companies are looking to automate what they do. You know, everyone wants to reduce their costs and push for higher production. Um, we want lights out manufacturing that's totally automated. And we also want more and more flexibility in these solutions since that's gonna make us more resilient and, and able to adapt to change better. Um, actually a big trend we're seeing is towards mass customization. So thinking about instead of low mix, high volume manufacturing, we're seeing higher and higher mix of products and skews. So if you look at all these driving forces, these directly aligned with the types of benefits that added in manufacturing, and also all these other technologies can bring to robotics and to each other, right, these are mutually beneficial things. Um, so that's why we've seen this accelerated growth and innovation in all of these areas.
Speaker 1 00:10:16 When you go to 3d printing an end of arm tool for a robot, what are some of the pre and post process requirements that one has to consider?
Speaker 0 00:10:27 Absolutely. So I started to talk a little bit about the pre-processing. So that's the design portion, and essentially that's going to be the same for end of arm tooling as it would be with any other part you might be printing. Um, but I think the bigger conversation for, uh, for 3d printing is actually post-processing because a lot of times, I mean, that can be often more time consuming than the printing process itself. And you know, what exactly is involved in that really, again, depends on the technology you're working with. Uh, certain technologies require curing or baking the parts after printing. Um, some of them require support structures. And so you need to consider how are these going to be removed, you know, either by breaking them off or using some kind of solvent, uh, specifically for MJF, since we're actually melting that polymer together during the printing process, like that's what gives us, um, our high part strength, the build itself needs to cool down after printing.
Speaker 0 00:11:31 So after that point, you would bring that build over to our HP processing station, remove the parts, and then vacuum out all that remaining loose material, which can then be used for your next build. Um, so that's a big point to additive as just a very sustainable process because there's very little waste involved. You can reuse a lot of that material, uh, from bill to build. And then from there, you're just simply be blasting that last layer of material off, um, in terms of additional processes, you know, you can optionally do things like dye the parts. Um, if you're looking for a smoother surface finish, you can do things like an abrasive tumble. They even have chemicals smoothing processes now. Uh, but I think for most industrial applications, these aren't necessarily, um, you know, necessary and you're going to get a good usable part as soon as it's done printing and being cleaned.
Speaker 1 00:12:29 So 3d printing of course come a long way in the last few years. And I remember seeing all kinds of early end of arm tools at trade events and such. And what are some of the things that have happened along the way, obviously the print technologies improved?
Speaker 0 00:12:43 Yes, it definitely has. You know, there's been a lot of technical improvements, um, both in the processes, but also in materials, uh, you know, over time, of course we've seen wider and wider availability of materials, so higher strength materials, more impact resistant, you know, higher temperature, resistance, things like that. But I would say almost more importantly, we've seen that evolution of process technologies over time. And so focus areas on that end would be things like, uh, resolution and dimensional accuracy or the strength and just the repeatability of that part quality from part to part. And then also hardware reliability. This is a huge one, especially when we're talking about, uh, production applications. Uh, also mentioned one example of a technical challenge has been air and fluid tightness. And you know, now we have technologies like MJF where we can actually create these dense and durable parts that are also airtight.
Speaker 0 00:13:45 So now we can use them for applications like pneumatic or vacuum end effectors. And so that's one of the reasons that end of arm tooling is a focus area for HP since it's definitely this application where the technology really fits well in. But the other thing I'd mentioned beyond just the technical improvements is also cost, which we know is closely tied to volumes, uh, you know, every new technology when it's first developed, it's pretty prohibitively expensive. And then over time that changes as we see developments along the way. And in 3d, we've definitely come a long way. So to kind of put that in perspective, um, we have customers on the high end who are printing thousands, if not tens of thousands of parts in a week and sometimes in a single day. So we're finally past that tipping point where, you know, the cost is low enough and the part quality and the volume of parts is high enough that we can actually be competitive with traditional manufacturing methods.
Speaker 1 00:14:51 So there's lots of advantages to printing 3d and of arm tools. You've got costs, you've got flexibility, you've got design. What are some of the other advantages of 3d printed end of arm tools?
Speaker 0 00:15:04 Absolutely. I mean, definitely time to part is a big one, of course, right? Instead of waiting weeks to get the part, you can print it, have it available the next day. So you can move really quickly through your design iterations, um, and also get spare parts much faster. Uh, you mentioned kind of flexibility, design freedom. I think this is a really important one to hit on for end of arm tooling, because a lot of times when we look to identify applications that are a good fit for additive, we're looking for parts with the highest level of complexity that can benefit the most from having either a more complex design, um, or just consolidating assemblies into a single part, for example. So that's why it happens to be such a good fit because now you can do things like integrating air channels into a single part.
Speaker 0 00:15:55 Um, or like I mentioned, using generative design to really get the best performance tool using the least amount of material. And so the effect there is that when you're going through this optimization, it's going to result in this big weight reduction in that part, and that can lead to faster and more accurate movement of your robot arm, um, which also leads to another benefit, which is cost of course. So an optimize 3d printed part, that's going to be less expensive a lot of times than a machined assembly, but I think even more importantly beyond that, when you're working with lighter end defectors, you can also reduce the size of all this supporting componentry involved. So, you know, the robot arm, different motors gearboxes. So now by just changing the design of one part, you're enabling cost savings across your entire system. Um, and not to mention the fact that by having these benefits, the speed, the design freedom, uh, you can now look at ways to expand your business by offering more customized automated solutions.
Speaker 0 00:17:07 Actually one of our customers, geomatic, they're a leader in the handling industry. Um, they've been working with 3d printing, even with some fairly simple, um, you know, gripper fingers, but for them it still makes sense because that enables them to create lower volume, customized options that they can turn around really quickly for their customers. And then the last benefit I'll just add on again, I mentioned sustainability. I think it's good to mention that additive manufacturing is inherently going to be more sustainable than a subtractive method, right? Generating that stock material is pretty energy intensive and a good portion of that is just going to go to waste. Um, so 3d, especially with technologies like MJF with that high reusability ratio, you're generating very little waste. You also have the option to work with renewable materials like PA 11. So I think as additive evolves, this is an area we're going to see more and more growth in.
Speaker 1 00:18:07 I certainly liked the sustainability message that you have in there. It's, uh, it, it really works very well. And I think the, um, as well, the spares, like you mentioned, you know, why not print two or three at the same time? So you always have spare end of arm tools in your cabinet. So I think that that's very, very cool. Exactly. What about also, um, end of arm tools are not always that simple. What about integrating other technologies around them sensors and, uh, uh, maybe you have to have an external airline for some reason. How does that work?
Speaker 0 00:18:40 Absolutely. So, as I mentioned, you know, some of these things could just be designed into the part, so like the integrated air channels, um, I would say when you go down that path, there are some additional design considerations. Like I mentioned, not every technology, you know, that's going to work out for, um, for MJF specifically or for any powder bed fusion technology. You'd have to think about things like, okay, how am I going to clear out that material after I've printed these integrated channels, for example, and we have ways and, you know, guidelines around how to do that either with compressed air or, uh, you know, a flexible tool, things like that. But in terms of just the design freedom that it allows you, I would challenge, you know, anyone who's like looking at a complex assembly that, you know, additive gives you so much opportunity to play with the geometry and consolidate assemblies in really interesting ways that, you know, there's likely a creative solution that just hasn't been done before.
Speaker 1 00:19:45 Liz, one of the things that we talked about, uh, prior to the call was about printing in color. And can you tell our audience where that might be an advantage to having an, a complex end of arm tool? Yes,
Speaker 0 00:19:57 Absolutely. And this, this topic's actually very near and dear to me because, uh, as you mentioned, when I joined HP, I worked for several years on the development of their JF five 80 machine. Um, and so this one is actually different from HBS other platforms in that it is fully color enabled, uh, but it does run the same fusing process. So we're still able to make very strong, durable parts. And this has been unique in the 3d printing industry, because up to this point, a lot of the full color technologies have had difficulty creating durable parts, you know, some impressive color, great for prototyping, great for visual models, but maybe not really appropriate for the industrial space. Um, but you know, with the JFK 80, we can now create robust industrial tools that are also in full color. So to your question, why would you do this when, when color, you know, when color first came out for regular 2d printers, they asked the same question, right?
Speaker 0 00:21:00 Why would, why would anyone need this? Uh, today we see that, you know, and we understand that color is an extremely powerful communication tool. You know, we can't imagine the world around us without color. And the same point is true for 3d printing. So imagine printing directly onto a tool, uh, your logo part number, a safety label, you know, a QR code with whatever instructions you want to include. You can even color code, different parts or surfaces, and all of this can happen regardless of how complex that geometry is. Plus you don't have to worry about any of those additional time consuming, steps of painting or labeling your parts. Um, there's actually a really interesting part. I wish I could show you, but, uh, it was made by a systems integrator in France by ultimate Tesema. And it's just a really cool looking part, but essentially they made a vacuum end effector using the five 80. And of course they used it for printing logos. So it was really great for brand recognition, but they also color coded their integrated air channels. So it became really clear, you know, which pneumatic lines needed to attach where onto that tool. And then by, you know, of course eliminating the need for any excess tubing. They were also able to increase the speed of that robot arm. So I think overall, you know, using color to communicate, we're seeing a lot of benefits in terms of just faster, simply fewer mistakes and just overall more efficient production.
Speaker 1 00:22:36 Yeah. I, I remember seeing that picture, uh, that I think maybe it was on a webinar and it was very, very compelling. So if I'm a robot integrator, let's say, and I be going through a lot of end effectors and I see a fit for a 3d printing. When do I buy a printer or do I use a service bureau? How does that work? How does that journey work for me?
Speaker 0 00:22:58 Right. This is a big question for folks. And I would first start by saying that service bureaus are an amazing asset. They're often experts in a number of technologies, you know, not just 3d printing, uh, but also machining different molding methods and also finishing techniques. So this is a really great option if you're just getting started, you know, your volumes are low, you're not really sure which technology is best. Maybe you need a little feedback in terms of designing for additive. Um, plus they're, you know, widely distributed all over the world. Um, I think for HP, we have about 70, uh, 3d printing service bureaus in north America. So it's really easy to find someone local to work with. And then I would also add that, you know, if you're not sure how to get started with that, I mean, you can reach out to me, you can, I could definitely help point you in the right direction.
Speaker 0 00:23:54 Um, so this is an amazing network to leverage, but I think at the same time, it's important to recognize that at high enough volumes, um, your part costs and your time to part are going to be less when you have that technology in house. Uh, so, you know, what are those considerations? How do I actually make that call? I think the first thing is simply understanding your requirements and you know, which technology is going to be the best fit from there. You can assess your volumes, compare it to the capacity of the machines you're looking at. Um, so that would include both build volume and speed of that machine. And with that information, you can start figuring out what your ROI is. Um, one of the things that I actually do on a regular basis is help customers walk through this analysis. You know, as application engineers, we're here to help. We want to make sure we're figuring out the best applications for the technology, help estimate your costs, um, and you know, ultimately help you understand all of these factors that are involved.
Speaker 1 00:25:00 Thank you. Is wondering, is there anything, is there any other questions that I have not asked you yet today that you want me to ask?
Speaker 0 00:25:08 So I think one of the questions we talked about was just what industries, um, you know, this makes the most sense in, and, you know, I think it's important to recognize that 3d printing can work for any industry. You know, we have examples in packaging and automotive. We even have a case where there's a customer in the flower industry, uh, who makes specialized machines that bunch of flowers together. Right? So, um, I think it's important to note that it has more to do with the application rather than the industry and that really industry, any industry can leverage 3d printing. If they have an application that can benefit from the lightweighting or the faster parts or more customization options.
Speaker 1 00:25:58 And I think you hit it on the head too, when you talk a little bit about high mix and a low volume applications, and all of a sudden you can really afford to create new tools for different industries.
Speaker 0 00:26:10 Exactly, absolutely. And a lot of our customers, aren't just printing end of arm tools, right. You know, there are some companies where that's their specialty, but there's other folks where that's just the tip of the iceberg. Um, maybe I'll end by saying we have a HP supplies packaging center in Virginia, and they do print several end of arm tools, uh, for their 19 different lines. But they're also using it for conveyor belt parts. Um, and color-coded pusher parts for different size media and break, fix parts and jigs and fixtures, you know, anything, right? Like anything they can find that they can print it's provided value. And so I, I bring that up because, you know, if we were just looking at end of arm tooling, maybe that ROI wouldn't have worked out for them, but since they were looking at all these different applications together, those savings very quickly added up and then it made more than enough sense to bring that technology in house.
Speaker 1 00:27:07 This has been very informative. Thanks for joining us today. If there's listeners out there that want to find out more about products and the printers, how do people get ahold of you?
Speaker 0 00:27:16 Absolutely. So you can definitely find me on LinkedIn. I would also say feel free to just Google HP 3d printing. We even have a landing page specifically for industrial applications.
Speaker 1 00:27:29 Thank you. Liz starts from our sponsor today for this episode is Earhart automation systems, Earhart builds and commissions turnkey solutions for their worldwide clients. With over 80 years of precision manufacturing, they understand the complex world of robotics, automated manufacturing and project management, delivering world-class custom automation on time and on budget contact one of their sales engineers to see what Earhart can build for you. Their email address is
[email protected] and Earhart is spelled E H R H a R D T. I'd also like to thank and acknowledge our partner, a three, the association for advancing automation. The association is the leading automation trade association in the world for robotics, vision and imaging motion control and motors and industrial artificial intelligence technologies visit automate.org to learn more. I'd like to thank our partner painted robot painted robot builds and integrates digital solutions. They're a web development firm that offers SEO and digital social marketing and can set up and connect CRM and other ERP tools to unify marketing sales and operations. And they're
[email protected]. And if you'd like to get in touch with us at the robot industry podcast, you can find me Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening. Be safe out there. Today's podcast was produced by customer attraction, industrial marketing, and I'd like to thank my nephew, Chris gray for the music, Chris Colvin for audio production, my partner, Janet, and our partners, a three painted robot and our sponsor Earhart automation systems.
