[INTERVIEW] Spencer Koroly, NWIC Pacific: Rugged 3D Printer for Subject Deployment and In-Flight Manufacturing

3D printing whereas airborne aboard a tiltrotor plane or throughout off-road manoeuvres in army automobiles is an irregular testing method for brand new 3D printers. But, underneath these excessive situations a US Navy developed expeditionary 3D printer rose to the problem. I spoke with the mission result in study extra.

The Superior Manufacturing Operational System, or AMOS, is a compact, ruggedised polymer printer designed by the Naval Info Warfare Middle (NIWC) Pacific to fill a longstanding operational hole: dependable, field-deployable additive manufacturing for autonomous techniques.

Spencer Koroly, a technical mission supervisor at NIWC Pacific, led the trouble to construct AMOS after a request from a Marine in 2019. “He requested me, ‘What can I take with me to the sector tonight to construct and restore drones?’” stated Koroly. “Again then, there wasn’t a machine that might ship the velocity, materials high quality, and reliability wanted within the discipline. That was the start line.”

AMOS was conceived as a dual-use system: appropriate for each Division of Protection (DoD) and non-military purposes. The core problem was decreasing construct time for useful components. A drone that beforehand required 150 hours of print time utilizing legacy techniques was produced in simply 9 hours utilizing AMOS. The system was optimised for ABS and ASA relatively than lower-grade supplies like PLA, guaranteeing thermal stability and robustness in harsh environments.

“We wished to take that 150-hour drone print and compress it underneath a day,” Koroly defined. “It needed to be one thing you possibly can use instantly and belief structurally. In any other case, you’re simply delivery components once more.”

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Excessive testing for AMOS infight and onboard

Koroly’s background in mechanical engineering and robotics helped form a machine designed each for portability and excessive operational resilience. The 3D printer has been examined inside a V-22 Osprey whereas in flight, on a Navy Touchdown Craft Utility (LCU), and through off-road checks in a Joint Gentle Tactical Automobile (JLTV), the trendy Humvee equal. “The printer held up. We bought good components off it even when the car was leaping off the bottom,” Koroly famous, together with a medical solid printed mid-flight. These eventualities validated the machine’s structural resilience underneath shock and vibration masses. “The medical solid we printed in flight was utterly usable. The design emphasises rigidity. It’s probably the most volumetrically environment friendly extrusion printers on the market,” Koroly stated, noting that body compactness, bolstered movement techniques, and minimised shifting mass scale back print disruption throughout car motion.

Koroly described NIWC’s mission construction as nearer to academia than conventional defence contracting. Engineers submit mission proposals, akin to analysis grants, to develop new capabilities. “I selfishly wished a printer I may use daily,” he stated. “So I proposed constructing one that might additionally meet an actual operational want.”

Now in its fourth technology, AMOS has already been utilized in demanding environments. Throughout RIMPAC 2024, 5 AMOS models had been deployed at a Marine Corps base and two aboard the USS Somerset. The mission staff collaborated with the Naval Postgraduate Faculty and different protection labs to validate how polymer additive manufacturing may complement steel AM in emergency restore workflows. When a reverse osmosis pump on the Somerset failed, AMOS was used to supply a geometry validation half in simply eight hours. This polymer take a look at half confirmed dimensional accuracy earlier than a hybrid wire-arc steel AM course of was used to supply the ultimate half. “The crew couldn’t produce sufficient consuming water. That half helped us validate the geometry earlier than committing to a multi-day steel restore. It was a real-world instance of additive de-risking the restore course of,” Koroly stated.

The AMOS program additionally addresses a bigger challenge: the Navy’s need for cellular, localised manufacturing to assist distributed operations. Koroly envisions ships and ahead bases as “cellular digital warehouses,” enabled by additive applied sciences. “If the printer is aboard, and the design file exists, you can also make the half in hours as a substitute of ready days or even weeks for supply.”

In parallel, Koroly’s staff is evaluating new applied sciences, together with hybrid steel AM processes and AI-assisted half technology. Whereas text-to-CAD techniques stay immature, he believes they may unlock manufacturing potential for personnel with out conventional design abilities. “The particular person on the manufacturing facility ground or within the discipline usually is aware of precisely what they want however lacks the CAD fluency. If AI can bridge that, we unlock an enormous functionality.”

Nonetheless, AM faces persistent limitations to adoption. “The army is usually sluggish to adapt. Additive has lengthy been seen as an answer on the lookout for an issue,” Koroly stated. “However we’re now on the level the place the instruments are dependable sufficient, and the issues effectively outlined sufficient, that adoption is accelerating.”

The success of AMOS may sign a broader shift towards distributed manufacturing throughout the US army, with additive manufacturing forming the spine of a resilient, on-demand provide chain.

Safe 3D printing techniques designed for delicate purposes 

Safety stays a central concern. Additive manufacturing techniques working in army contexts should meet stringent cybersecurity protocols, notably for deployment aboard ships. AMOS is present process the Authority to Function (ATO) course of, with NIWC’s cybersecurity groups co-developing hardening strategies and safeguards for digital design recordsdata and machine controls. “We minimise tampering dangers utilizing safe file repositories and design verification strategies,” Koroly defined. “AMOS itself should meet cybersecurity necessities earlier than it may be loaded aboard a deployed vessel.”

To make sure compatibility with army techniques, the printer has configurable modules to satisfy cybersecurity and procurement requirements. “You may take away or change elements like cameras relying on the deployment setting,” Koroly added. This modularity is vital because the mission enters its dual-use section. 

The safety problem is just not theoretical. Throughout our dialog, we mentioned prior public demonstrations the place digital recordsdata for 3D printed drones had been manipulated to fail mid-flight. “There are well-known examples of sabotage through file modification,” stated Koroly. “That’s why we depend on safe, government-managed repositories, not open websites, and add scanning and design verification layers earlier than components are accepted for printing.”

NIWC can also be addressing the human elements that may decide know-how adoption in the true world. “We had Marines construct their very own AMOS models earlier than deployment,” Koroly stated. “It meant they understood the system. When a filament jam occurred, I obtained a message at 10 pm from a Marine who fastened it in minutes. That possession issues.” The emphasis is obvious: “Think about you’re sleep-deprived, chilly, hungry, and underneath stress. Now, attempt to function unfamiliar tools. Know-how must work in that situation.”

The DoD’s first business licensee for AMOS is the Chicago Additive mission. The group will concentrate on bringing AMOS to marketplace for industrial customers whereas sustaining the ruggedness, half reliability, and configuration controls that outline the unique unit.

NIWC is already working towards fleet-wide standardisation. “A college may design a mission-critical half, and so long as the fabric and geometry requirements are met, that file could possibly be manufactured anyplace throughout a globally distributed army community,” Koroly stated. 

Additive manufacturing can also be gaining operational legitimacy inside Navy logistics. Koroly cited the emergence of ships as “cellular digital warehouses,” the place polymer printers can produce mission-critical components in a matter of hours. “We’re seeing the shift now. Again in 2012, we heard a few printer in each house. Right now, many components have gotten digital merchandise. Print-on-demand is actual.”

When requested what he would prioritise with limitless price range and nil crimson tape, relatively than cite a particular know-how, Koroly had a distinct want. “I’d get the DoD customary locked in,” he stated. “A transparent customary for polymer additive manufacturing would open up iteration, speed up collaboration, and rework how provide chains work throughout protection and business.”

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Featured picture exhibits AMOS 3D printers deployed throughout a US Navy train. Photograph through NIWC Pacific.