Creating a High and Homogenous Resolution Workspace for SCARA Based 3D Printers

3D printing is an additive manufacturing process that has an untold number of applications in fields as diverse as medical prostheses to military vehicle manufacturing not to mention its long term use in component prototyping [1][2]. With the creation of robotic arm based printers, the 3D printing process can be improved in terms of flexibility and time-efficiency, but with the potential trade-off being lower resolution in some areas of printer workspace. To counteract the resolution reduction, we are studying the use of continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) coupled to the robot’s traditional revolute joints [3]. This paper will show that CVTs allow our SCARA-based robotic printer called DEXTER to achieve a resolution as good or better than a traditional desktop style 3D printer.