Robots have been an integral part of many factories for decades. As technology has advanced, they have found new applications, including CNC machining, supporting additive manufacturing through material deposition, and assisting in sheet metal forming, known as roboforming.
Edward Mehr, a former SpaceX engineer and now co-owner and CEO of Machina Labs, has developed a process that uses seven-axis robots to form metal in a similar way to how a blacksmith uses a hammer. Their metal forming technology can shape titanium components into different shapes. The machines themselves have the ability to change tools and sensors to perform different operations such as forming, scanning or even trimming.
In this forming concept, gradual plastic deformation allows 3D geometries to be created in a sheet of metal directly from design data. How does it work? A robot equipped with a spherical tool gradually presses against the surface of a sheet, causing it to deform.
According to the company, the system is best suited for larger parts up to about 3.5 metres in length and can produce parts with a depth of about 120 cm. It can form sheet metal up to 1/4″ thick with an accuracy of less than one millimetre.
Roboforming does not require custom tooling, such as moulds, making it an ideal process for mass customisation. For example, the robot can form fifty different part geometries at the same time and cost as fifty identical parts.
The process also makes it possible to realise designs that were previously difficult or impossible.
Take a look at a nearly 20-minute video demonstrating this technology.
