Meltio launches new robot cell for additive manufacturing

Meltio, a wire-laser metal deposition additive manufacturing company, has launched its Meltio Robot Cell, a metal additive manufacturing solution.

Meltio says its robot sell will boost the performance of a industrial robotic arm in a safer, more reliable and highly accurate way by controlling the entire process including its recently launched slicing software Meltio Space.

In its vision as patented Directed Energy Deposition (DED) 3D printing technology developer and manufacturer to accompany and be the reliable solution for industries around the world to adopt Meltio’s wire-laser metal 3D printing solutions that reduce costs and improve manufacturing processes, the Spanish multinational has today presented a new hardware innovation: the Meltio Robot Cell.

This new system allows standard metal 3D printing starting from a build plate in a factory as well as part repair or feature addition.

Meltio Robot Cell is compatible with the open hardware platform that allows Meltio to integrate metal 3D head into any brand of robotic arm but in this case in order to propose a faster and better user experience is proposing a standardization, the Meltio Robot Cell.

The volume and work area defined in the Meltio Robot Cell workspace meets all manufacturing needs using our industrial-level additive manufacturing technology to take full advantage of Meltio’s metal 3D printhead and be able to manufacture parts in an industrial environment autonomously thanks to its monitoring and safety features.

Robot and positioner are installed on a self-supporting platform, laser safe enclosure together with Meltio Engine, Meltio Space and accessories.

With Meltio Robot Cell, Meltio company is fulfilling most of the applications that industry and integrators need when printing industrial metal parts and is the reason this standardization matches together with the possibility to build custom integrations with the help of meltio partners.

Meltio Robot Cell is designed as a plug & play system, with a single electrical power supply and a single inert gas supply.

The environmental conditions are standard and this cell cannot be outdoors or unprotected from the sun and dust, it must be in a controlled environment. This solution allows the customer to receive a product ready to use for robotic metal 3D printing.

Meltio Robot Cell is certified and tested to operate with an ABB robotic arm as standard configuration and is aimed at all industries and is an evolution of the Meltio Engine Robot Integration as a base production model to enable industries to incorporate 3D printed parts manufacturing with the Meltio head integrated into a robot into their production systems.

Alejandro Nieto, Meltio engine product manager, says: “Meltio’s main commitment with the launch of Meltio Robot Cell is to offer all types of industries the ability to manage the entire manufacturing process using our metal 3D printing technology consisting of a Meltio head integrated in a robotic arm and in a safe environment, in order to just produce parts.

“This new hardware system allows the customer to receive a ready to use cell for robotic metal 3D printing, removing the integration process and long assembly lead times.

“The Meltio Robot Cell has a specific area for every supply the cell requires on a daily basis, only connecting to the inert gas and electric supply is enough to start manufacturing.”

Meltio Robot Cell also provides the industrial customer with a working protocol. Relative to existing offerings in the market today, the Meltio Robot Cell is very competitively priced and its price is below 300,000 dollars ex works.

The cost of the solution is also competitive when compared with thermoplastic and concrete 3d printing systems as seen in other sectors that demand 3D printing for structural parts.

This cell has the possibility to be delivered with other robot brands on the market to be more responsive to customers in terms of availability and technical capability.

Meltio Robot Cell is compatible with the open hardware platform that allows Meltio to integrate our metal 3D printing head on any brand of robotic arms.

Meltio emphasizes how it can increase the productivity of its clients and augment their manufacturing capabilities, for this is offering the Meltio Robot Cell with a lead time no longer than 4 to 6 weeks in 2023.