March 10, 2017
The drone – a quadcopter with four rotors – was designed, 3D-printed and flown by Phillip Keane, an NTU PhD candidate from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering who is engaged in research at NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP). The drone was jointly developed by the SC3DP and Stratasys Asia Pacific. The electronics were incorporated in the drone during the 3D printing process, which employed the fused deposition modelling (FDM) process using Stratasys ULTEM 9085 – a high-strength, lightweight material certified for use in commercial aircrafts. In 3D printing, objects are created digitally layer by layer until completion. However, embedding electronics can be a challenge, as most will not survive the high temperatures of the 3D printing process. Commercial-grade electronics were therefore modified and placed within the drone at the various stages of the printing process. They survived the high-temperature printing, which reached over 160 deg.C, compared to the usual 80 to 100 deg. Only the motors and the propellers were mounted after the entire chassis was completed. “One of the toughest…