Additive manufacturing of structured 3D electronics combining freeformer and StarJet Technologies (Seestern)

Have you ever wished for rapid prototyping of 3D plastic parts with injection molding grade featured with electrical conductive traces? And achieving decentralized production of small to medium series, cost-efficient design utilization and a fast design-product cycle? Maybe even sustainable production of smart 3D components using recycled and biodegradable plastics?

In the manufacturing industry, the buzzwords IoT, digitalization, Industry 4.0 etc. are ubiquitous today. The associated technological achievements will sustainably support and improve our society. However, the current production of electrical circuits and electronics is based on subtractive methods that consume large amounts of chemicals and produce wastewater. Centralized mass production also leads to a large CO2 footprint due to long logistics routes.

In the joint public funded project Seestern (Einsatz von StarJet und Freeformer für Hybriddruck von struktureller Elektronik) @ InvestBW, we are aiming to provide a novel digital and resource-efficient additive manufacturing technology for multi-material hybrid components by combining ARBURGaddtive's existing Freeformer technology with the StarJet technology developed at Hahn-Schickard. While the Freeformer technology has set standards in the field of 3D printing of plastics, the StarJet technology, as a fused metal printing technology, offers completely free design options for 3D printing of conductive metals and direct soldering of electronic components. By integrating both technologies into a single production-ready system, it enables the direct additive manufacturing of electrical circuits and electronics as well as functional and individualized intelligent components.