3D printing whereas airborne aboard a tiltrotor plane or throughout off-road manoeuvres in army automobiles is an irregular testing method for brand new 3D printers. But, underneath these excessive situations a US Navy developed expeditionary 3D printer rose to the problem. I spoke with the venture result in study extra.
The Superior Manufacturing Operational System, or AMOS, is a compact, ruggedised polymer printer designed by the Naval Data Warfare Heart (NIWC) Pacific to fill a longstanding operational hole: dependable, field-deployable additive manufacturing for autonomous programs.
Spencer Koroly, a technical venture supervisor at NIWC Pacific, led the hassle to construct AMOS after a request from a Marine in 2019. “He requested me, ‘What can I take with me to the sector tonight to construct and restore drones?’” stated Koroly. “Again then, there wasn’t a machine that might ship the velocity, materials high quality, and reliability wanted within the area. That was the start line.”
AMOS was conceived as a dual-use system: appropriate for each Division of Protection (DoD) and non-military purposes. The core problem was lowering construct time for practical elements. A drone that beforehand required 150 hours of print time utilizing legacy programs was produced in simply 9 hours utilizing AMOS. The system was optimised for ABS and ASA quite than lower-grade supplies like PLA, making certain thermal stability and robustness in harsh environments.
“We wished to take that 150-hour drone print and compress it underneath a day,” Koroly defined. “It needed to be one thing you possibly can use instantly and belief structurally. In any other case, you’re simply transport elements once more.”
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Excessive testing for AMOS infight and onboard
Koroly’s background in mechanical engineering and robotics helped form a machine designed each for portability and excessive operational resilience. The 3D printer has been examined inside a V-22 Osprey whereas in flight, on a Navy Touchdown Craft Utility (LCU), and through off-road checks in a Joint Gentle Tactical Car (JLTV), the fashionable Humvee equal. “The printer held up. We bought good elements off it even when the automobile was leaping off the bottom,” Koroly famous, together with a medical forged printed mid-flight. These eventualities validated the machine’s structural resilience underneath shock and vibration hundreds. “The medical forged we printed in flight was fully usable. The design emphasises rigidity. It’s one of the vital volumetrically environment friendly extrusion printers on the market,” Koroly stated, noting that body compactness, bolstered movement programs, and minimised shifting mass scale back print disruption throughout automobile motion.
Koroly described NIWC’s venture construction as nearer to academia than conventional defence contracting. Engineers submit venture proposals, akin to analysis grants, to develop new capabilities. “I selfishly wished a printer I might use day-after-day,” he stated. “So I proposed constructing one that might additionally meet an actual operational want.”
Now in its fourth technology, AMOS has already been utilized in demanding environments. Throughout RIMPAC 2024, 5 AMOS models have been deployed at a Marine Corps base and two aboard the USS Somerset. The venture staff collaborated with the Naval Postgraduate College and different protection labs to validate how polymer additive manufacturing might complement metallic AM in emergency restore workflows. When a reverse osmosis pump on the Somerset failed, AMOS was used to supply a geometry validation half in simply eight hours. This polymer check half confirmed dimensional accuracy earlier than a hybrid wire-arc metallic AM course of was used to supply the ultimate half. “The crew couldn’t produce sufficient consuming water. That half helped us validate the geometry earlier than committing to a multi-day metallic restore. It was a real-world instance of additive de-risking the restore course of,” Koroly stated.
The AMOS program additionally addresses a bigger concern: the Navy’s want for cell, localised manufacturing to assist distributed operations. Koroly envisions ships and ahead bases as “cell digital warehouses,” enabled by additive applied sciences. “If the printer is aboard, and the design file exists, you can also make the half in hours as an alternative of ready days or perhaps weeks for supply.”
In parallel, Koroly’s staff is evaluating new applied sciences, together with hybrid metallic AM processes and AI-assisted half technology. Whereas text-to-CAD programs stay immature, he believes they may unlock manufacturing potential for personnel with out conventional design abilities. “The particular person on the manufacturing facility flooring or within the area typically is aware of precisely what they want however lacks the CAD fluency. If AI can bridge that, we unlock an enormous functionality.”
Nonetheless, AM faces persistent obstacles to adoption. “The army is usually gradual to adapt. Additive has lengthy been seen as an answer in search of an issue,” Koroly stated. “However we’re now on the level the place the instruments are dependable sufficient, and the issues nicely outlined sufficient, that adoption is accelerating.”
The success of AMOS might sign a broader shift towards distributed manufacturing throughout the US army, with additive manufacturing forming the spine of a resilient, on-demand provide chain.
Safe 3D printing programs designed for delicate purposes
Safety stays a central concern. Additive manufacturing programs working in army contexts should meet stringent cybersecurity protocols, notably for deployment aboard ships. AMOS is present process the Authority to Function (ATO) course of, with NIWC’s cybersecurity groups co-developing hardening strategies and safeguards for digital design information and machine controls. “We minimise tampering dangers utilizing safe file repositories and design verification methods,” Koroly defined. “AMOS itself should meet cybersecurity necessities earlier than it may be loaded aboard a deployed vessel.”
To make sure compatibility with army programs, the printer has configurable modules to fulfill cybersecurity and procurement requirements. “You possibly can take away or change elements like cameras relying on the deployment setting,” Koroly added. This modularity is essential because the venture enters its dual-use part.
The safety problem just isn’t theoretical. Throughout our dialog, we mentioned prior public demonstrations the place digital information for 3D printed drones have been manipulated to fail mid-flight. “There are well-known examples of sabotage by way of file modification,” stated Koroly. “That’s why we depend on safe, government-managed repositories, not open websites, and add scanning and design verification layers earlier than elements are accepted for printing.”
NIWC can be addressing the human components that may decide know-how adoption in the true world. “We had Marines construct their very own AMOS models earlier than deployment,” Koroly stated. “It meant they understood the system. When a filament jam occurred, I obtained a message at 10 pm from a Marine who fastened it in minutes. That possession issues.” The emphasis is obvious: “Think about you’re sleep-deprived, chilly, hungry, and underneath stress. Now, attempt to function unfamiliar tools. Know-how must work in that situation.”
The DoD’s first business licensee for AMOS is the Chicago Additive venture. The group will concentrate on bringing AMOS to marketplace for industrial customers whereas sustaining the ruggedness, half reliability, and configuration controls that outline the unique unit.
NIWC is already working towards fleet-wide standardisation. “A college might design a mission-critical half, and so long as the fabric and geometry requirements are met, that file could possibly be manufactured wherever throughout a globally distributed army community,” Koroly stated.
Additive manufacturing can be gaining operational legitimacy inside Navy logistics. Koroly cited the emergence of ships as “cell digital warehouses,” the place polymer printers can produce mission-critical elements in a matter of hours. “We’re seeing the shift now. Again in 2012, we heard a couple of printer in each residence. At the moment, many elements have gotten digital merchandise. Print-on-demand is actual.”
When requested what he would prioritise with limitless funds and nil purple tape, quite than cite a selected know-how, Koroly had a special want. “I’d get the DoD normal locked in,” he stated. “A transparent normal for polymer additive manufacturing would open up iteration, speed up collaboration, and remodel how provide chains work throughout protection and business.”
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Featured picture exhibits AMOS 3D printers deployed throughout a US Navy train. Photograph by way of NIWC Pacific.