May 13, 2016 | By Alec
The Polish aerospace scene is blossoming, something that is very apparent from the large number of Polish student teams entering international space exploration competitions. Of the top ten student teams entering these competitions in 2015, three came from Poland. What’s more, 3D printing is often featured heavily. 2016 is expected to be no different, something illustrated by the Ares 2 Mars Rover. Built by a student team from the Technical University of Warsaw for the University Rover Challenge, it heavily relies on lightweight 3D printed parts. Poland has joined the space race.
These Polish teams are by no means the only ones to heavily rely on 3D printing, as it is seen as one of the breakthrough technologies that could propel space exploration into a new age. For that sector has stagnated. Despite the fact that the first manned space flight occurred more than half a century ago, humanity hasn't been able to travel further than the moon.
NASA and other parties are hard at work trying to change that. So far, 38 attempts to send unmanned probes to Mars have been made, with the Curiosity Mars Rover (that landed in 2012) being the biggest success. Following up on that achievement, however, requires a far more efficient approach to space exploration. Curiosity weighed 899 kg, and every single gram sent into space costs immense amounts of energy and money. To put a man on Mars, we need high-precision and high-strength production techniques that minimize the likelihood of failures and produce very lightweight components.
That’s where 3D printing comes in, which opens up a vast array of possibilities for efficient aerospace development. It can decrease production and prototyping costs, enable more efficient geometries in single parts and provide access to numerous material options. It’s exactly why the majority of entries into space exploration engineering competitions are relying on 3D printing.
The new Polish-made Ares 2 Mars Rover, an entry into the University Rover Challenge, is no different. A four-wheeled space rover capable of independent surface exploration, it has been designed by students from the Student Astronomical Study Group of the Technical University of Warsaw. The students 3D printed several fundamental parts for the rover, including its wheels and a housing for its ultrasonic sensor. So far, they are very happy with the results. Several 3D printed parts, such as the rover’s gripper, weighs around two-thirds less than conventionally manufactured alternatives.
To realize these parts, the Polish students received help from 3D printer manufacturers Zortrax. Though the Polish company is known for its desktop 3D printing solutions, they are also very keen to help the country’s next generation of makers. Among others, they provided the students access to Zortrax's M200 3D printers and their Z-ULTRAT printing materials, which were used for the final Ares 2 model.
It’s not the first time Zortrax was involved in Polish aerospace research projects. Among others, they previously provided 3D printing solutions to the Warsaw-based Balloon Student Group, who 3D printed parts for stratosphere exploration aircraft. These 3D printed vessels reached altitudes of 30 km and were later involved in the Balloon micro Lifeform-and-Meteorite Assembler (Bulma) program. Recently, the Polish-made Scarab Automatic Martian Research Vehicle also received new housing and various other components made with Zortrax's 3D printers. Thanks to those efforts, the new Scarab model was lighter and more ergonomically and technologically advanced.
The Scarab.
Projects like these have convinced Tomasz Miś, vice president of the Student Astronomical Study Group at Warsaw's University, that 3D printing can change the field of space exploration. “We can effectively reduce the weight of each component through the precise manipulation of each part's cross sectional filling. This is a very important factor in competitions and means of transport, as they often require low weights of such vehicles,” he said. “For this very reason, we specifically 3D printed the wheels for the Ares 2 rover; a move which got a lot of positive feedback from experts. 3D printing also allows us to produce replacement parts rapidly and relatively cheaply.”
The Ares 2 rover is one of the many entries into this year’s University Rover Challenge, and expectations are high. Could Polish 3D printing technology take us to Mars?
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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