Washington State University (WSU), the University of Maryland, the University of British Columbia, and Boeing researchers have completed work on additively manufactured antenna arrays, which have been published in Nature Communications.The research, funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), could be used for advanced wearables, conformal antennas, antennas added to drone wings or masts, 4D antenna structures for satellites, or foldable antennas in general. This work may have far reaching production applications in the future since adding well functioning antenna to many vehicles is increasingly complex and important at the same time in an age of Electronic Warfare and the connected battle space.The project used copper molecular decomposition inks in a slurry to manufacture traces mounted on TPU.
These kinds of slurries can be deposited and made through sintering coupled with direct ink write, direct write, more general extrusion processes, and, in some cases, Slurry SLA as well.Small antennas.Image courtesy of WSU.
WSU researcher Sreeni Poolakkal thinks that, “This proof-of-concept prototype paves the way for future smart textiles, drone or aircraft communications, edge sensing, and other rapidly evolving fields that require robust, flexible, and high-performance wireless systems.” Subhanshu Gupta, associate professor in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, said, “The ink is a very important part in additive, or 3D printing.The nanoparticle-based ink developed by our collaborators is actually very powerful in improving the performance for high-end communication circuits like what we’re doing…We used this processor that we developed to correct for these material deformities in the 3D-printed antenna, and it also corrects for any vibrations that we see.The ability to do that in real time makes it very attractive.We were able to achieve robust, real-time beam stabilization for the arrays, something that was not possible before.” A chip-sized processor and 3D printed antenna array developed by WSU researchers could someday lead to flexible and wearable wireless systems.
Image courtesy of WSU.The nanoparticle slurry ink and the reduction in manufacturing errors are key to making this development a real advance.Flexible antennas have been under development for decades, and whole careers have been devoted to them.
A challenging concept is much harder still to actually make into a finished article that performs.But along with beam stabilization that responds in tandem to deformity, this development makes it work.On-chip beam stabilization is, of course, not only interesting for these antennas specifically, but could work to help strain sensors or other electronics work well as they are deformed as well.
In this iteration, the antennas are made into modular tiles that can be used individually, spread out across a vehicle, or combined into arrays.This should aid in construction costs and make the finished article easier to make as well.This approach could have broader ramifications as well.
By looking at this as a “tile with a chip,” electronics on board can challenge a lot of other complex electronic issues in a different light as well.Where could this all lead? For now, this is promising for sail drone masts, drone communications, submarine antennas, missiles, and more.Defense applications could very well feed much further development in this area.
Beyond this, aircraft sensors and flexible infrastructure sensors loom.It would be nice to have very capable sensing and communications gear on large ship hulls, oil platforms, and things like bridges.Reading out and monitoring key infrastructure, like dams, as well as quotidian items, like lightposts, could be an application as well.
Wearable technologies also beckon, although we don’t yet know how wearable people want their devices.But think of wraparound antennas for displays, smart visors, AR, and other headsets as an example.And more futuristically, we could see more embedded electronics in textiles.
It is very early days yet in a decades-long journey toward flexible antennas, but these points suggest applications are within reach.Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.Print Services Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
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