Use of Industrial Robots in Additive Manufacturing - A Survey and Feasibility Study

This paper presents a marketing survey and feasibility study on robotic Additive Manufacturing (AM) and its applications. The general trend and potential future of AM technologies have been reviewed and discussed. Open-form 3-D printing used in casting and architectural AM is the major focus. A rough survey on potential usages of AM in research and development as well as in production has been conducted and the result looks positive and encouraging. AM machine builders, service companies and end-users have been surveyed, visited, and interviewed. Various industrial robotic AM application cases have been presented and evaluated. The feasibility of robotic AM in different applications have been reviewed and discussed with focus on some typical applications. As a result of the study, a summary and conclusion has been given at the end of the paper, which shows the potential robotic business opportunities in the areas of both direct printing and post-processing of the additive manufactured parts.