Injected 3D electrical traces in additive manufactured parts with low melting temperature metals

Abstract

While techniques exist for the rapid prototyping of mechanical and electrical components separately, this paper describes a method where commercial Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques can be used to concurrently construct the mechanical structure and electronic circuits in a robotic or mechatronic system. The technique involves printing hollow channels within parts that are then filled with a low melting point liquid metal alloy that solidifies upon cooling to form electrical traces. This method is compatible with most conventional fused deposition modeling and stereolithography machines, and requires no modification to an existing printer, though the technique could easily be incorporated into multi-material machines. Three primary considerations are explored using the a commercial fused deposition manufacturing (FDM) process as a testbed: material and manufacturing process parameters, simplified injection fluid mechanics, and automatic part generation using standard printed circuit board software tools. As demonstration of the ability to embed circuit in RP parts, a differential-drive robot is printed, populated with discrete electronic components, and injected to create a fully functional robot.