Digital Fabrication Technologies for Rapid Product Development

Abstract

Digital fabrication technologies, including 3D printing, virtual manufacturing and direct digital manufacturing, are among the most innovative technologies being developed for linking with cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things and cloud computing to form 'smart factories' in Industry 4.0 that are key to high efficiency, adaptability, agility, and responsiveness needed for the manufacturing industry to prevail in global markets. This seminar introduces the concept and development of digital fabrication technologies, with a focus on the principle of 3D printing and its integration with virtual reality to form a virtual manufacturing system that facilitates and speeds up the design-validate-improve process of product development. This virtual manufacturing system enables manufacturers to enhance product maturity rapidly and shorten time-to-market substantially by “getting the design right the first time” in advanced product development. Moreover, complex objects and prostheses can also be digitally fabricated for biomedical applications, including study of complex human organs for planning of surgical procedures. A brief demonstration of 3D printing and virtual manufacturing would be given in the seminar.