{"id":30007,"date":"2021-05-25T14:00:58","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T14:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/?p=30007"},"modified":"2021-05-25T15:29:58","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T15:29:58","slug":"orbital-composites-umd-robotic-3d-printer-250520215","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/orbital-composites-umd-robotic-3d-printer-250520215\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Minnesota Duluth Receives Orbital Composites Robotic 3D Printer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Orbital Composites, a provider of advanced carbon fiber and robotic 3D printers designed for space additive manufacturing applications, has just announced that it has shipped one of its Robotic 3D printers to the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). The printer, along with Orbital Composites\u2019 commercially available Orbital S AM platform, will facilitate UMD\u2019s research into polymer and composite additive manufacturing. This event is a milestone for both UMD and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/aerospace-professionals-3d-printing-at-additiv-aerospace-090320215\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Orbital Composites<\/a>. This is because the acquisition of the robotic 3D printer will play a key role in the university&#8217;s endeavor to expand its teaching and research capabilities in large-scale, out-of-plane robotic 3D printing of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/pla-vs-petg-which-material-should-you-choose-110520215\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">thermoplastic polymers<\/a>. It also marks Orbital Composites\u2019 first commercial shipment of a turnkey robotic 3D printer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UMD\u2019s research will be conducted under the guidance of Dr. Gireesh Menta, professor of Mechanical Engineering. According to Menta, the 3D printer \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not only enables us to conduct research in this exciting next-generation manufacturing technology but also allows us to bring true interdisciplinary instruction to our classrooms. We expect this technology to improve UMD&#8217;s competitiveness in the Additive Manufacturing field and result in job opportunities with students gaining extremely valuable skills in robotics, AI, and additive manufacturing.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30009\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30009\" class=\"wp-image-30009 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/Image-25-05-2021-at-14.48.jpg\" alt=\"orbital composites\" width=\"700\" height=\"444\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/Image-25-05-2021-at-14.48.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/Image-25-05-2021-at-14.48-600x381.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/Image-25-05-2021-at-14.48-160x101.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-30009\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Orbital Composites&#8217; robotic 3D printer has now been shipped to UMD.<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Orbital S is a multi-talented platform, compatible with modular, robotic, additive, and subtractive manufacturing. As such, it will enable students to gain hands-on knowledge of a variety of subjects including robotics, software programming, material science, and, of course, 3D printing of polymers and composites. Equally the students will receive interdisciplinary learning experience in mechanical and electrical design, chemistry, programming, as well as other subjects, by learning to operate the robotic 3D printer.<\/span><\/p><div class=\"dnati-inside-article-leaderboard\" style=\"text-align: center;\" id=\"dnati-3979792006\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/us06web.zoom.us\/webinar\/register\/3717757396787\/WN_sBfwcCHoQSq1mEANYpWa6Q\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"LB (3)\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/LB-3.gif\" alt=\"\"  width=\"850\" height=\"150\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Education about robotic 3D printing is gaining prominence in advanced manufacturing and is a key component of Orbital\u2019s mission for creating technologies for future generations. As such the Orbital S platform will also enable students to print objects in virtually any shape or size. This means that they will be able to conduct research across many verticals, including but not limited to aerospace, biomedical, renewable energy, architecture, clean transportation, or space. Cole Nielsen, Founder &amp; CTO of Orbital Composites comments, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe are innately passionate about educating the next generation of engineers and advancing the research in robotic 3D printing\u201d. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before concluding, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe see Orbital S platform as a perfect multidisciplinary teaching and research tool for Robotics, 3D Printing, Advanced Materials and Software development. As such, it is an essential tool for project-based learning for next-generation Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, Biomedical and Software engineers alike\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30012\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30012\" class=\"wp-image-30012 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/1610645379761.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/1610645379761.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/1610645379761-600x343.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/1610645379761-160x91.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-30012\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Orbital Composites&#8217; modular system can be set up in shipping containers to print and post-process parts on-site, which is important for parts (such as large wind blades) that are notoriously difficult to transport.<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If you want to find out more information you can go to Orbital Composites website <a href=\"https:\/\/www.orbitalcomposites.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HERE<\/a>. What do you think about encouraging education about robotic 3D printing? Let us know in a comment below or on our Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages! Sign up for our free weekly Newsletter here, the latest 3D printing news straight to your inbox!<\/p>\n<p><em>*All photos credit of Orbital Composites<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"dnati-after-content\" id=\"dnati-1784774360\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/amcoe.org\/event\/design-for-additive-manufacturing-design-at-elevation\/\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"DfAM course-850&#215;150\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1.jpg 850w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-600x106.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-768x136.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-160x28.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" width=\"850\" height=\"150\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Orbital Composites, a provider of advanced carbon fiber and robotic 3D printers designed for space additive manufacturing applications, has just announced that it has shipped one of its Robotic 3D printers to the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). The printer,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6075,"featured_media":30010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6075"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30007"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30016,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30007\/revisions\/30016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}