3D printing in XXL format

Aectual designs and produces sustainable products for the construction industry with its XXL 3D printing robot. (facades, floors, stairs, wall elements and much more) 

The XXL 3D printer was developed by Aectual itself. According to Aectual it will be the largest 3D printer in Europe by 2020. The robot also operates at night without any supervision, which made cable guidance increasingly important in hindsight. New products are developed during the day and produced during the night. The printing speed is up to 50 cm per second.  

 

Company: Aectual
Contact person: Mrs Hedwig Heinsman
Country: Netherlands
 

Problem

Even though Aectual's extrusion technology is state of the art, the robot's energy supply system was somewhat neglected in the beginning. The sum of cables and hoses increased with the demands and wishes of the customers.
 
At the beginning of the development, the energy supply system was kept very simple with cable tiewraps and ropes. (See left picture below) At a certain point Aectual recognised that the robot damaged the cables by its movement.
 
A reliable energy supply system was needed.  

• Production during night without human supervision for up to 12 hours
• Every print runs differently, which makes many adjustments to the robot necessary.  

Solution

Since the production of the parts always takes place at night and without any supervision, the idea was to choose a fail-safe but also flexible system.  
 
The retraction system has installed an RSP (retraction system pneumatic). Here the retraction force can be individually adjusted to the filling of the chain and it also offers the highest retraction force.  

In addition to the energy supply system from igus, Aectual also decided on the robot cables (CF.ROBOT) in order to obtain a mutually matched package.   

Before

After