MIT Researchers 3D Printed a Linear Motor in 3 Hours

MIT researchers just built a 3D-printing platform that can spit out a fully functioning electric linear motor in about three hours. The advancement brings researchers one step closer to printing out a car. 

A 3D printer takes filament and produces solid objects. The process starts with a 3D model on a computer. The printer slowly builds the shape, often using melted plastic, until it creates a 3D item. 

In an article in the industry journal Virtual and Physical Prototyping, the researchers explained that their new 3D-printing system can handle different materials in a single build, switching among four different tools as it prints layer by layer. 

Instead of printing just plastic shells or simple parts, the 3D-printing system can fabricate all the key components of an electric machine in a single go, on a single platform. In their demo, the researchers printed an electric linear motor entirely on this system. 

It’s important to note that a linear motor generates straight-line motion, unlike a more complex rotating motor, like the one in a car. Researchers use linear motors in optical systems and simple robotics. 

While a linear motor is still far away from the complexity of a car engine, the development is a significant step in the right direction, researchers say. 

“This is a great feat, but it is just the beginning. We have an opportunity to fundamentally change the way things are made by making hardware onsite in one step, rather than relying on a global supply chain. With this demonstration, we’ve shown that this is feasible,” Dr. Luis Fernando Velásquez-García, one of the senior authors of the research paper, told MIT News.

3D printing is cheap

The 3D-printed linear motor matched or outperformed comparable motors made with more complex, conventional manufacturing, and only cost 50 cents in materials, the researchers found. 

In comparison, electric linear motors, which are used in telescopes and optics and medical and lab systems, range from around $300 to $800 to make at the lower end, with high-end models costing thousands of dollars. It costs more than $3,500 to build a rotary motor for a car.

The researchers did not disclose how much the 3D-printed system costs overall. 3D printers start at about $200 and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for more sophisticated machines. 

Why this matters for printing a car

If researchers can one day 3D-print advanced motors and other components, the idea of assembling a car from downloaded designs becomes more of an engineering problem than science fiction, per Gizmodo. 

Going forward, the researchers say they want to move from linear motors to rotary motors found in cars. They want to 3D-print the kind of technology seen in electric vehicles and advanced robots today. 

They also write about adding more toolheads so that the same 3D-printing platform could one day manufacture more complex electronics, including vehicle subsystems and medical devices.

“Even though we are excited by this engine and its performance, we are equally inspired because this is just an example of so many other things to come that could dramatically change how electronics are manufactured,” Velásquez-García told MIT News.

In the past few years, MIT researchers have 3D-printed electromagnets and sensors for satellites.

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MIT researchers just built a 3D-printing platform that can spit out a fully functioning electric linear motor in about three hours. The advancement brings researchers one step closer to printing out a car. 

A 3D printer takes filament and produces solid objects. The process starts with a 3D model on a computer. The printer slowly builds the shape, often using melted plastic, until it creates a 3D item.