3D Printers

FLX.ARM Flexes Hybrid 3D Printing, Milling, Pick-N-Place Muscles

Since beginning with 3DPI about two years ago, I’ve read about numerous projects working to expand the capabilities of desktop 3D printers to take on new tasks, like milling, scanning, and pick(ing?)-and-plac(ing?). Some have sort of faded into the background of the industry, while others have made more progress. Notable examples include the Fabtotum hybrid 3D scanning, printing, and milling machine, which began taking pre-orders recently, and the ZeGo 3D printer, which impressed the President of the U.S. when he visited a Pittsburgh hackerspace. A new project has emerged on Kickstarter that hopes to take this multifunctional approach even farther, with a machine that has the potential to be smarter and more capable then its counterparts.

The FLX.ARM is a low-cost robotic arm designed to be a combination 3D printer, milling machine, and pick-and-place robot with advanced features that verge on self-awareness.  Maybe self-awareness is going to far, but the FLX.ARM relies on some specific sensing equipment and software to enhance the quality control over the items it fabricates.  But, before we get into that, let’s take a look at its overall design.

flx.arm hybrid 3D printer

The creators of the FLX.ARM.S16.Z8 (numbers which will make sense shortly), Flux Integration LLC, describe their machine as a Selective Compliance Articulated Robot Arm (SCARA), a robot arm that is held rigidly on the X-Y axis with an additional actuator to give it up and down movement on the Z axis.  Flux Integration has designed the machine to have a greater work area than other 3D printers, as the robot arm has a reach of 16 inches on the X-Y axis and can travel 8 inches on the Z-axis (S16.Z8).

flx.arm hybrid milling

With modular components, users can switch out the toolheads of the FLX.ARM to fulfill a number of tasks.  The 3D printer module uses an all metal E3D hot end with bowden filament drive to print layer thicknesses as thin as 100 microns.  A light-duty milling toolhead equipped with a Proxxon IBS/E rotary tool gives the FLX the ability to mill some woods, metals, plastics, foam, wax, and more. The SMT pick and place head uses a vacuum pump to move components and, with Flux Integration saying that they are working on a vision system and solder paste dispenser for the potential to manufacture electronic components. Finally, they’ve also developed a 2″ probe tip for precise measuring.

flx.arm hybrid pick-and-place

The FLX.ARM is the product of four years of work by software and electrical engineer Joshua Heckman and his team.  And it shows.  What the FLX.ARM features that other hybrid machines and desktop 3D printers haven’t quite implemented is closed-loop control.   As the KS campaign explains, most low-cost 3D printers create objects based off of calculations in their software (squirt plastic here, move here, squirt more plastic, etc.), instead of real world conditions.  So, if something goes wrong during a print job, the machine won’t realize it and will continue about its sloppy business.  The FLX.ARM uses ultra-high resolution optical encoders to provide feedback to the company’s FLX.IDE software to ensure repeatability of up to 0.001″ (0.025mm).

software flx.arm hybrid 3D printing milling pick-and-place machineThe FLX.IDE software and FLX.CTL hardware are the foundations of the FLX.ARM machine. Based in the cloud, FLX.IDE can handle CAD and CAM models, but also features machine control simulation and toolpath visualization and the ability to plan a PCB board layout. FLX.CTL allows the software to communicate with the FLX.ARM, as well as other CNC and automation machines. All of these sophisticated features earned Flux Integration a grant from Maine Technology Institute to get their system off the ground in 2013.  Now, they’ve turned to Kickstarter to go into full production, offering their FLX.ARM for prices as low as $1,799, not including build plates, toolheads, or shipping. The KS campaign points out that “low-cost precision robotic arms can cost on average from $10k – $40k”. They believe that they can sell their FLX.ARM for such a low price, thanks to the off-the-shelf parts they’ve used to make their robotic joins and by automating the manufacturing and calibrating of their units.

I’ve gotten excited about these hybrid machines before, as they signal a utopian future of home manufacturing, but I’m also learning to temper by excitement as I’ve seen other Kickstarters offer more than they can deliver. It looks, however, like Flux has put a lot of effort into making their machine and, with a working prototype, I hope that the FLX.ARM is the beginning of that dream I’ve been waiting to realize.