SBIR Phase I: Parallax Manufacturing

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to commercialize parallax manufacturing, a new polymer structuring method with unprecedented speed, choice of materials and manufacturing integration. Parallax manufacturing fabricates parts over 100x faster than current layer-by-layer additive manufacturing and eliminates resin injection, reducing typical manufacturing time from hours to seconds.

This prototype will be applied in the initial markets of orthodontics and electronic connectors. The former will result in better patient care at lower cost, while the latter will remove the cost barrier to low volume, high bandwidth electronics packaging. Beyond these initial markets, PM has the potential for broad societal impact via sustainable, point-of-use manufacturing of bespoke high-performance products in fields such as personalized medicine, automotive and aerospace.

The PM machines will be sold directly to manufacturers to embed systems into their manufacturing lines. A recurring revenue model tailored to customers' high value needs will utilize Hardware as a service payment structures to maximize the commercial revenue potential.

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project develops parallax manufacturing, a new form of contact-free additive manufacturing with record-breaking throughput, part size and resolution. PM rapidly moves an optical toolhead above a flat cartridge containing components in photo-sensitive resin, similar to computer numerically controlled milling.

The light projected from the toolhead continuously changes shape to fabricate arbitrary objects around the components immersed within the resin. This unprecedented capability enables hybrid assemblies using high viscosity resins with critical properties such as low creep or flame retardance that cannot be fabricated by other AM techniques. The primary goal of this project is to answer critical questions that will enable an alpha product prototype.

The technical hurdles to be addressed are 1) understanding the requirements on the optical toolhead, 2) developing optimal post-processing methods, and 3) establishing the limits of manufacturing speed. The first will be answered by incorporating the Zemax OpticStudio application programming interface into an existing parallax manufacturing modeling framework to simulate performance.

The second will be answered by combining solvents of varying molecular weight, temperature, sonication, and optical flood exposure. The third will be answered by establishing how toolhead trajectory, resin sensitivity and object complexity influence fabrication time.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.