MACHINE & TOOLSPROCESS DEVELOPMENTROBOTIC 3D PRINTING

ROBOTIC FDM 3D PRINTING

Six-axis 3D printing for thermoplastic polymers.

Robotic FDM 3D printing brings additive manufacturing onto a 6-axis anthropomorphic robot: the nozzle does not move on fixed horizontal planes, it orients the deposit in space following the geometry of the part. Cell, slicing software and programming environment are developed entirely by AIVOX and integrated with Grasshopper. A single parametric workflow from form to printed part.

FDM ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING WITH ANTHROPOMORPHIC ROBOT

The robot orients the nozzle in space, follows the curvature of the geometry, distributes material along the structurally meaningful directions of the part. It is not a variant of conventional printing — it is a different depositional logic, using the same material to produce objects with geometries and mechanical performance inaccessible to Cartesian deposition.

The closed chamber with heated build plate extends compatibility to high-temperature technical polymers — ABS, ASA, PC, loaded composites. The high-flow extrusion system reaches 95 mm³/s in standard configuration and 110 mm³/s in extended configuration. The AIVOX software is natively integrated in Rhinoceros and Grasshopper: slicing, trajectories, simulation and machine control take place in a single environment, with no exports or manual handoffs.

picture cell 01 — Interal picture of robotic cell. Work area.

picture cell 02 — External picture of robotic cell. Front view.

FROM PARAMETRIC MODEL TO PRINTED PART: THE INTEGRATED WORKFLOW

01 - Computational Design

Material distribution and slicing method are design parameters in Grasshopper from the outset. The form is designed already knowing how it will be built.

02 - Slicing and path generation

Trajectories generated according to the selected method: spiralize, angled, variable-height layer, non-planar, adaptive or conform. Real-time visualisation on the 3D model.

03 - Trajectories simulation

Robot kinematics and absence of collisions fully simulated in Rhinoceros/Grasshopper before the robot moves.

04 - Fabrication

Execution and control Robot and extruder synchronised in real time by the AIVOX control system, integrated with the robot controller to ensure full synchrony between robot and end effector.

picture cell 03 — Close-up pictures of extrusor and overview of robotic cell. Installation for *"The Idea of Sculture"*, Venice, 2025.

Non-planar 3D Printing

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