Mechanical Engineering Center’s Masterpiece: Convenient 3D printer

(English translation 2024-05-20)

The Mechanical Engineering Center introduced a 3D printer (Keyence Agilista) in the fiscal year 2013. It has been primarily used for prototyping before making actual parts to check whether the drawings are accurate by assembling them, and to ensure there is no interference when temporarily integrating them with other devices. Two photos above are of prototypes created for testing purposes. While creating complex shapes through machining can be time-consuming, with a 3D printer process time required is almost the same, whether the shape is simple or complex. The splice box for electromagnets underwent multiple iterations of prototyping, where the prototypes were integrated into the device, modifications were made to the shape, and further prototypes were produced until the final shape was determined. However, recently there has been an increase in examples where 3D printers are used not only for prototyping but also for creating the actual devices. The two photos below depict instances where the printed parts were directly integrated into the devices or used in actual experiments.