3D printing drones to save forests

Posted By Lucie Gaget on May 7, 2019 | 0 comments

Applications of drones are more and more diverse, as these flying devices can now be used in a lot of different sectors. But do you know that 3D printing is particularly adapted to drone manufacturing process?

We will tell you all the advantages of additive manufacturing for drones in this article and tell you about this nice project of a company using 3D printed drones to save forests. As you will see, 3D printing can be the solution to start amazing and useful projects.

Start using 3D printing for your drone project

Benefits of using additive manufacturing to create your drone!

At Sculpteo, we already developed a drone made using both 3D printing and laser cutting. These digital manufacturing technologies could also help you build your next drone project.

More and more of our customers are interested in using additive manufacturing to create their drones. 3D printing a drone has various benefits. But why is this 3D manufacturing technique such a good idea to make drones?

• You will save time

Saving time is one of the main benefits of 3D printing. Thanks to the possibility of iterations, it is possible to save time during the prototyping process. But the work on the design also allows saving time for the production process. Maybe, reworking on the design will be the solution to create fewer, but more optimized parts. The whole manufacturing process can be reduced by the use of this 3D technology.

• You will be able to create all the technical parts you need!

Additive manufacturing offers you a large choice of technologies and materials for your project. To create a drone, you will necessarily want to choose an accurate technology, able to create the design of technical but lightweight parts. Maybe start thinking about the HP Multi Jet Fusion printing technology for your drone parts?

• You will scale up your production

Produce what you need, when you need it. Additive manufacturing can help you rethink your production process. you don’t need to stock your parts, while using an online 3D printing service, you can just order your parts when you need it, both for prototyping and production. This way, you start to work with a great digital inventory and stop wasting space.

Start now!

Svarmi, is an Icelandic company providing Drone as a Service. The company used additive manufacturing in order to improve its manufacturing process for its drones. Here is what the company Svarmi explained to us after using our online 3D printing service:

“Product development process usually starts by defining the constraints, and usually, the manufacturing constraints are a big factor. With 3D printing, one does not need to think too much about how to manufacture and can save maybe up to 30% of the initial concept design time. In the design process, this can save even more time, up to 40% by reducing the number of components that one needs to design or source, as well as being able to design with much less restrictions than for example for a milled 3D part, not to mention the time saved in the CAM process. “

Using an online 3D printing service such as Sculpteo will help you give life to your technical drone project. Contact us for more information, or upload directly your 3D files on our online 3D printing service to get your instant quote.

3D printing drones to save forests, a challenging project

DroneSeeds manufactured a drone fleet to help restore fire-ravaged areas. They are using 3D printing to scale up their manufacturing production.

Using PLA and Multi Jet Fusion PA12 the company actually created complex parts, allowing them to find an alternative to injection molding.

350 parts were needed for a whole fleet. The design also played a great role in all this transition to 3D printing: this technology allows getting 3D files with optimized designs, optimizing the product itself. For a drone, it is possible to rework the whole structure to get a perfect balance between strength and weight.

Drones can be used for a wide range of applications, but in all cases, additive manufacturing can help to manufacture these custom made projects. What do you think about 3D printed drones? Share your views with us in the comment and tell us if you are planning to 3D print your drone project with Sculpteo’s online 3D printing service.

Are you interested by the potential of additive manufacturing for the creation of drones ? Learn how to build a drone.

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