Patent Watch: Robotic fabricator

iRobot Corporation and Rayheon BBN Technologies Corp. have filed a US patent entitled “Robotic Fabricator“, a completely autonomous all-in-one product fabrication robot that handles manufacturing (including 3D printing) and all the post printing work from seed component to mature product.
The patent describes a fabrication system which includes a tool-head for manufacturing, a first manipulator and a second manipulator. The first manipulator supports and manipulates an item, and is configured to provide six-axes of movement for positioning of the item relative the tool-head. The second manipulator carries a component and orients the component at a select orientation relative to the item supported on the first manipulator. The tool-head is configured to add material to at least one of the item and the component. The first and second manipulators provide at least six axes of fabrication for the tool-head.

Credit: iRobot/Raytheon BBN

Wolfgang Heller

Wolfgang Heller