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Fully Functional IoT Device 3D-Printed, Assembled, and Tested in Hours

June 10, 2019 by Scott McMahan

Nano Dimension Ltd. reported that it created what the company claims to be the first fully functional, 3D-printed communication device. The company says it produced the device using the company's additive manufacturing technology at a faster rate than has ever been achieved to date with conventionally fabricated devices.

According to Nano Dimension, this IoT device it developed enables the creation and testing of 'smart' products and other prototypes faster and more easily than ever before. Nano Dimension completed the print, assembly and testing of the prototype IoT transceiver device in merely hours (aproximately), which is about 90% faster than traditional (non-3D-printed) devices which typically take about 14 days or more. (See the image above of the 3D printed device on the left).

The company additively manufactured the device using its DragonFly Pro 3D Printer, which the company claims to be the only precision additive manufacturing system of its kind worldwide.

The remote-control type IoT device, which is smaller than a silver dollar coin (16mm x 33mm x 1.6mm), is currently in the qualification phase. The company's experts expect that it can be easily and efficiently developed into a two-way communication device (transmitter and receiver) such as a router.

Organizations that specialize in smart home routers may be able to assist in rapidly developing enhanced communication with smart white goods such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, air conditioning systems, and even children's toys.

For example, smart TVs that can remind their owners that their favorite program is about to begin, smart refridgerators that can communicate that they are out of milk, and children's toys that can demand to be played with.

The company insists that this device (essentially a printed circuit board) has much farther-reaching applications than just smart homes.

Enterprises that make autonomous vehicles, with their many hundreds of sensors, may be able to use this smart device developed with the help of the DragonFly Pro 3D-printer.

Nano Dimension contends that as more products become 'smart', eventually there will be no limit to the number of different items that this seemingly simple device can connect to.

"An ever-greater emphasis is being placed on smart cities, smart buildings, smart homes and smart products by industries and consumers alike. Our solution enables companies to speedily trial and finalize their prototypes in just one day without compromising on quality or performance. They no longer have to wait over a fortnight to understand whether their smart device works or not. This ultimately increases product and cost efficiencies and reduces time to market, which means that the consumer can enjoy the benefits of these products faster than ever before," Amit Dror, CEO of Nano Dimension, said,

The company's DragonFly Pro 3D Printer, said to be the only one of its kind, can in some cases miniaturize electronics making devices and circuit boards more efficiently in terms of their production capacity as well as their performance.

The printer can make the circuitry for numerous applications. These applications including the Transceiver Application (transmitter and communicator) as described above; the Multilayer PCB Torque Sensor Application for the creation of sensors required in almost every device; temperature and motion sensors in monitoring equipment; and a finger sensor in the average smartphone.

These applications also include the RF Amplifier Application, which can vastly amplify signals for portable communication devices and unmanned airborne vehicles including drones and satellites, among numerous others.

Nano Dimension says that its DragonFly Pro 3D Printer is poised to revolutionize the industry for electrical engineers as they know it.