Beyond conventional military products, technologies in the defense industry sectors around the globe are integrated and fused with newly emerging technologies such as three-dimensional printing (3DP) and smart material fabrication. Acknowledging these trends, this study proposes a miniature high-speed actuator whose fabrication process entails 3DP, smart materials, and shape memory alloy. The manufactured actuator is 25 mm long and 5 mm wide in and weighs 2.5 g, having the optimal frequency in the range of 35-40 Hz. Force and deformation measurement were also conducted, resulting in the lift force of 0.18 N per second with a bending deformation of 5 mm.

Intricate deflection requires many conventional actuators (motors, pistons etc.), which can be financially and spatially wasteful. Novel smart soft composite (SSC) actuators have been suggested, but fabrication complexity restricts their widespread use as general-purpose actuators. In this study, a hybrid manufacturing process comprising 3-D printing and casting was developed for automated fabrication of SSC actuators with 200 μm precision, using a 3-D printer (3DISON, ROKIT), a simple polymer mixer, and a compressor controller. A method to improve precision is suggested, and the design compensates for deposition and backlash errors (maximum, 170 μm). A suitable flow rate and tool path are suggested for the polymer casting process. The equipment and process costs proposed here are lower than those of existing 3D printers for a multi-material deposition system and the technique has 200 μm precision, which is suitable for fabrication of SSC actuators.

Hybrid manufacturing technology has been advanced to overcome limitations due to traditional fabrication methods. To fabricate a micro/nano-scale structure, various manufacturing technologies such as lithography and etching were attempted. Since these manufacturing processes are limited by their materials, temperature and features, it is necessary to develop a new three-dimensional (3D) printing method. A novel nano-scale 3D printing system was developed consisting of the Nano-Particle Deposition System (NPDS) and the Focused Ion Beam (FIB) to overcome these limitations. By repeating deposition and machining processes, it was possible to fabricate micro/nano-scale 3D structures with various metals and ceramics. Since each process works in different chambers, a transfer process is required. In this research, nanoscale 3D printing system was briefly explained and an alignment algorithm for nano-scale 3D printing system was developed. Implementing the algorithm leads to an accepted error margin of 0.5% by compensating error in rotational, horizontal, and vertical axes.

Multi-scale mass-deployable cooperative robots’ is a next generation robotics paradigm where a large number of robots that vary in size cooperate in a hierarchical fashion to collect information in various environments. While this paradigm can exhibit the effective solution for exploration of the wide area consisting of various types of terrain, its technical maturity is still in its infant state and many technical hurdles should be resolved to realize this paradigm. In this paper, we propose to develop new design and manufacturing methodologies for the multi-scale mass-deployable cooperative robots. In doing so, we present various fundamental technologies in four different research fields. (1) Adaptable design methods consist of compliant mechanisms and hierarchical structures which provide robots with a unified way to overcome various and irregular terrains. (2) Soft composite materials realize the compliancy in these structures. (3) Multi-scale integrative manufacturing techniques are convergence of traditional methods for producing various sized robots assembled by such materials. Finally, (4) the control and communication techniques for the massive swarm robot systems enable multiple functionally simple robots to accomplish the complex job by effective job distribution.

Smart material such as SMA (Shape Memory Alloy) has been studied in various ways because it can perform continuous, flexible, and complex actuation in simple structure. Smart soft composite (SSC) was developed to achieve large deformation of smart material. In this paper, a shell actuator using woven type SSC was developed to enhance stiffness of the structure while keeping its deformation capacity. The fabricated actuator consisted of a flexible polymer and woven structure which contains SMA wires and glass fibers. The actuator showed various actuation motions by controlling a pattern of applied electricity because the SMA wires are embedded in the structure as fibers. To verify the actuation ability, we measured its maximum end-edge bending angle, twisting angle, and actuating force, which were 103°, 10°, and 0.15 N, respectively.

Characteristics of off-grid hybrid renewable energy sources for high mountain villages are discussed. Considering reliability of electric power generation, Photovoltaic (PV)-wind hybrid and PV-hydro hybrid system are suggested. Connecting two or more villages with these hybrid systems, an extended hybrid off-grid can be formed. Sustainability of entire system is important in design of off-grid system, and income generation of the village people using the electricity should be considered.

Recently, demands on mechanical micro machining technology have been increased in manufacturing of micro-scale precision shapes and parts. The main purpose of this research is to verify the accuracy and cost efficiency of the mechanical micro machining. In order to measure the precision and feasibility of mechanical micro machining, various micro features were machined. Aluminum molds were machined by a 3-axis micro stage in order to fabricate microchips with 200㎛ wide channel for capillary electrophoresis, then the same geometry of microchip was made by injection molding. To evaluate the cost efficiency of various micro manufacturing processes, cost estimation for mechanical micro machining was conducted, and actual costs of microchips fabricated by mechanical micro machining, injection molding, and MEMS (Micro electro mechanical system) were compared

Cold gas dynamic spray is a relatively new coating process by which coatings can be produced without significant heating during the process. Cold-spray uses supersonic gas flow to carry metallic powders to the substrate. Its low process temperature can minimize thermal stress and also reduce the deformation of the substrate. Most researches on cold-spray have focused on micro scale coating, but in this study macro scale deposition was conducted. Properties of aluminum layer by cold-spray deposition such as coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), modulus of elasticity, hardness, and electric conductivity were measured. The results showed that properties of aluminum layer by cold-spray deposition were different from properties of pure aluminum and aluminum alloy.

Cold gas dynamic spray or cold spray is a novel manufacturing method for coatings. Cold spray is a high rate and direct material deposition process that utilizes the kinetic energy of particles sprayed at high velocity (300-1,200㎧). In this research, a technique to repair the damaged mold by cold spray deposition and mechanical machining was proposed. An aluminum 6061 mold with three-dimensional surface was fabricated, intentionally damaged and material-added by cold spray, and its original geometry was re-obtained successfully by Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining. To investigate deformation of material caused by cold spray, deposition was conducted on thin aluminum plates (100㎜×100㎜×3㎜). The average deformation of the plates was 205~290㎛ by Coordinate Measurement Machine (CMM). In addition, the cross section of deposited layer was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). To compare variation of hardness, Vickers hardness was measured by micro-hardness tester.

A light guide panel (LGP) is an element of the LCD back light unit, which is used for display devices. In this study, the laser marking process is applied to the fabrication of light guide panels as the new fabrication process. In order to obtain a light guide panel which has high luminance and uniformity, four principal parameters such as power, scanning speed, ratio of line gap, and number of line were selected. A Web-based design tool was developed to generate patterns of light guide panel at any location, and the tool may assist the designer to develop optimized patterns. Topcon-BM7 was used for luminance measurement of each specimen with 100mm×100mm area. By Taguchi method optimized levels of each parameters were found, and luminance of 3523cd/cm² and uniformity of 92% were achieved using the laser machined BLU.

The research on electromagnetic shielding has been advanced for military applications as well as for commercial products. Utilizing the reflective properties and absorptive properties of shielding material, the replied signal measured at the rear surface or at the signal source can be minimized. The shielding effect was obtained from materials having special absorptive properties and structural characteristics such as stacking sequence. Recently researchers studied the electromagnetic properties of nano size particles. In this research {glass fiber}/{epoxy}/{nano particle} composites(GFR-Nano composites) was fabricated using various nano particles, and their properties in electromagnetic shielding were compared. For the visual observation of the nano composite materials, SEM(Scanning Electron Microscope) and TEM(Transmission Electron Microscope) were used. For the measurement of electromagnetic shielding, HP8719ESS-parameter Vector Network Analyser System was used on the frequency range of 8 ㎓-12㎓. Among the nano particles, carbon black and Multi-Walled Carbon Nano-Tube (MWCNT) revealed outstanding electromagnetic shielding. Although silver nano particles (flake and powder) were expected to have effective electromagnetic shielding due to their excellent electric conductivities, test results showed little shielding characteristics.