The Dominating Realm Of Future Technology

Additive manufacturing is just one of a series of new technologies that will bring great changes to many ways of manufacturing in the next few years. Even increasing production is not limited to 3D printing. A newly sprayed process called cold spray is spraying metal particles through the nozzle. Due to the high speed, these particles will form and form together. By precisely controlling the nozzles, machine operators can create three-dimensional metal objects such as gears, just like printing with 3D printers. Objects are just like those painted by inkjet, even if they are not common metals such as titanium.

What else is there? The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, founded by President Obama, looks ahead to the future. The organization has set out 11 technical areas, and believes that these areas will play a key role in determining the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry and should be the focus of R & D in the country.

Here is a brief introduction to the part of the committee's emphasis:

Sensing, measurement and process control: almost all advanced manufacturing technologies have something in common: they are driven by computers that handle huge amounts of data. Because of this, things that capture and record data are so important, such as sensors for monitoring humidity, GPS tracker for determining location, calipers for measuring material thickness. These devices are not only used more and more intellectualized in smart phones, but also make intelligent, flexible, reliable and efficient manufacturing technology possible. In a modern factory, sensors not only help to guide increasingly sensitive machines, but also provide information needed to manage the operation of the entire plant. Products can be traced from birth to service, and in some cases they can be traced to service. During this process, if there are problems, such as the humidity in the paint room is not suitable for spraying, the sensor will detect, send an alarm signal to the machine operator, or even send an alarm signal to the factory manager's cell phone.

Material design, synthesis and processing: new machines will need new materials, and new materials will make the manufacture of new machines possible. The development of coatings, composites and other materials is accelerating as the development of materials can be subdivided into atomic or molecular levels and can be manipulated almost without lengthy laboratory steps. Drawing on the widely recognized success of the Human Genome Initiative, the US government agencies such as Department of Energy launched a material Genome project last year (Materials Genome Initiative), aiming to shorten the time required to identify new materials and bring new materials to market. The process may take decades now, such as lithium-ion battery technology, which was first conceived by an employee of Exxon in 1970s, but it is not commercialized until 90s. Part of the work of the plan is to allow researchers in the field to share creativity and innovation scattered around the world, with two ears out of the window.

Digital manufacturing technology: engineers and Designer Computer aided modeling tools have been used in some years, not only for designing products, but also for testing, modifying, and improving products in digital way, often omitting the more costly and time-consuming process of entity inspection. Cloud computing and low-cost 3D scanners (now using iPhone to do a simple 3D scan) are moving these methods from sophisticated labs to mainstream, enabling entrepreneurs to use them. Autodesk has produced a free full featured CAD software called "123 Design", which can be done by a car manufacturer once with a large computer.

Sustainable manufacturing: even if its goal is not achieved, it is easy to understand. It is to maximize the use of every material and Joule energy in production and minimize waste. High energy efficiency manufacturing is one of the key areas. For example, manufacturing engineers often talk about the potential of "no lights" factories, which run continuously in darkness without heating or cooling because they are basically operated by robots or other machines. As smaller and highly automated local plants become more common, remanufacturing and recycling may become more important, and locally supplied materials will become more important.

Nanomaterials: one nanometer is equal to 1 billion parts of a meter, so nano fabrication means that materials can be manipulated at molecular or even atomic level. It is expected that nanomaterials will play a role in the production of high-efficiency solar panels and batteries, and even play a role in the medical applications based on ecosystems. For example, placing sensors in the body can tell doctors that cancer has disappeared. The next generation of electronic devices and computing devices may also rely heavily on nanomaterials. {page_break}

Flexible electronic manufacturing: for example, when you sit on top, you will have a curved tablet computer, which is connected with the body temperature and provides refrigeration when you need it. clothes And so on. These flexible technologies are already on the way to the mainstream. It is expected that the next generation of consumer devices and computing devices will be defined as one of the fastest growing products in the next 10 years. But this requires very advanced manufacturing processes.

Biologics: in this field, products are produced artificially by using part of biological organism or biological organism, such as developing drugs and compound drugs. Cheese is not counted. However, it can be used in many areas, such as energy efficiency improvement and the creation of new methods of nano fabrication.

Add material manufacturing: 3D printers not only hope to achieve high quality when they produce only one piece, but also hope to create conditions for new design, material structure and material combination. Printers that can print more than 1000 kinds of materials (hard plastics, soft plastics, ceramics and metals) have been developed. A German manufacturer has developed a process of stacking wood pulp in a series of layers. The Organovo, a Diego company, is printing and printing human tissues through 3D. Now some printers can stack more than one material, and can also build sensors and circuits into intelligent components, such as hearing aids or motion sensing gloves. There is even something called Replicator in the market. It is a system developed by Cybaman Technologies, a British company. First it heaped out the basic shape and then grinded the rough object into a precise and bright finished product.

Industrial robots: industrial robots can run 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The accuracy is repeatable and higher, and the time can be accurate to a few hundred seconds. The space can be accurately seen to the extent that the human eye can not see. They accurately report progress, make improvements when accepting efficiency tests, and will be more dexterous if advanced sensor systems are installed. They seldom complain. As robots become more and more popular, their economy is also improving: according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, the cost of robots related to labor has dropped by 50% since 1990. In addition, with the progress of biotechnology and nanotechnology, it is expected that robots will be able to do more and more sophisticated things, such as drug processing and cultivation of complete human body.

Advanced forming and joining technology: at present, most machine manufacturing processes still rely on traditional technologies, especially metal technology, such as casting, forging, machining and welding. But experts believe that the time for innovation in this field is ripe, and new ways can be used to connect more kinds of materials, while improving energy and resource efficiency. For example, cold forming technology is likely to play a major role as a repair technology or advanced welding technology.