Development of a Resilient 3-D Printer for Humanitarian Crisis Response

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A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
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Authors

Date

2018-03

Department

Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering

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Mcode

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Language

en

Pages

20

Series

Technologies, Volume 6, issue 1

Abstract

Rapid manufacturing using 3-D printing is a potential solution to some of the most pressing issues for humanitarian logistics. In this paper, findings are reported from a study that involved development of a new type of 3-D printer. In particular, a novel 3-D printer that is designed specifically for reliable rapid manufacturing at the sites of humanitarian crises. First, required capabilities are developed with design elements of a humanitarian 3-D printer, which include, (1) fused filament fabrication, (2) open source self-replicating rapid prototyper design, (3) modular, (4) separate frame, (5) protected electronics, (6) on-board computing, (7) flexible power supply, and (8) climate control mechanisms. The technology is then disclosed with an open source license for the Kijenzi 3-D Printer. A swarm of five Kijenzi 3-D printers are evaluated for rapid part manufacturing for two months at health facilities and other community locations in both rural and urban areas throughout Kisumu County, Kenya. They were successful for their ability to function independently of infrastructure, transportability, ease of use, ability to withstand harsh environments and costs. The results are presented and conclusions are drawn about future work necessary for the Kijenzi 3-D Printer to meet the needs of rapid manufacturing in a humanitarian context.

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Keywords

3-D printing, additive manufacturing, disaster relief, distributed manufacturing, open hardware, open source hardware, humanitarian engineering, humanitarian logistics, rapid manufacturing, remote manufacturing, 3D, REPRAP, POLYMER, FABRICATION

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DOI

10.3390/technologies6010030

Citation

Savonen, B L, Mahan, T J, Curtis, M W, Schreier, J W, Gershenson, J K & Pearce, J M 2018, 'Development of a Resilient 3-D Printer for Humanitarian Crisis Response', Technologies, vol. 6, no. 1, 30. https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies6010030

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202001021253

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[article-cris] Sähkötekniikan korkeakoulu / ELEC