In the USA, a printing plant was created that produces the simplest robots (video)

Production of the simplest robots and dronescompletely transferred to the "hands" of automated systems. The future, when no human presence is required to create new robots, has already arrived. Researchers from the Laboratory of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created an installation capable of independently printing working models of robots or unmanned aircraft. The installation was named LaserFactory and is based on a system for automatic design of devices and a laser cutter, which actually produces robotics.

Users can design a device withcomponents from the library, add schematics (electrical lines on a printed circuit board) and make some changes in the 2D editor. This is one of the limitations of the new machine - it can only create robots on a 2D basis. After checking the design for compliance with technical requirements, the program sends instructions to the LaserFactory equipment. Along with the laser cutter, the system includes a device that prints circuits and assembles components.

The drone creation process is shown indemo video. First, the contours of the drone and the location of the parts are outlined on the plastic. For the connection between the components, conductive paths are formed on the plastic, which, after laser treatment, become resistant to external influences. In the next step, the finished drone is simply cut out of a sheet of plastic. The whole operation is quite simple and effective, and the drone can be used within a few seconds after the completion of the work.

The creation of such simple robots in largequantities may be required for operational inspection of disaster sites or hard-to-reach areas. Also, such devices will become the object of the educational process, allowing you to quickly design and change the parameters of prototypes in the laboratory.

Further improvement of the systemLaserFactory will enable the creation of full-fledged 3D robots, as well as improved accuracy when printing conductive paths, which will enable complex circuits to be installed. The result can be a complete automation of the process of creating robots.

Source: engadget