Electroimpact has integrated a thermoplastic automatic fiber placement (AFP) process and an advanced fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing process to create SCRAM, which it describes as "an industrial, true six-axis, continuous fiber-reinforced 3D printer."

Read the full article at The Prospector.

Over the past few weeks, Electroimpact has been using our manufacturing resources to produce face shields and ear guards to assist in the fight against COVID-19. We want to say thank you to our healthcare heroes!

The Electroimpact Accurate Robot "COBRA" (Combined Operation: Bolting and Robotic Automatic-drilling) is enabling Lockheed Martin to manufacture the X-59 QueSST with efficiency, quality and affordability.

"Most recently, the X-59 program has leveraged a Combined Operation: Bolting and Robotic Automatic-drilling system to finish the lower wing skin of the aircraft. Simply known as COBRA, the robotic system drills, countersinks and inspects holes with a quality pass rate over 99.99%. Its use on X-59 marks the first time Lockheed Martin has drilled a production article with the COBRA system, pairing automation and robotics technologies to increase manufacturing speed and accuracy."

See more of the Electroimpact Accurate Robot "COBRA" in action here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lockheed-martin_ever-wonder-how-were-building-the-quietest-activity-6645687712600899588-4Mki

Electroimpact is a proud sponsor of the WSU Formula SAE team Wazzu Racing which provides engineering students with a hands-on learning opportunity and industry practical experience.

Electroimpact has been nominated as a finalist for the 2020 JEC Innovation Awards for the Scalable Composite Robotic Additive Manufacturing (SCRAM) carbon fiber 3D printing system.

SCRAM is an industrial true 6-axis continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic 3D printing system, enabling the tool-less rapid creation of aerospace grade integrated composite structures.

Key benefit

• Additively manufactured highly reinforced continuous fiber composite parts
• True 6 axis fiber reinforcement tailoring to the load path
• Dramatic reduction in composite part lead time
• Able to create highly integrated, complex, multi-material composite structures
• Innovative composite designs that may not be producible by other methods

See the JEC press release here:

“Engineers at Electroimpact in Mukilteo, Washington make a career-long pledge to support their customers from design-to-production and beyond”

Boeing was warned years ago that its plan to use robots inside and outside the body of fuselages wouldn't work to assemble sections of the 777X and 777, a Seattle aerospace executive says.

A Bloomberg News report this week revealed that jet maker is eliminating the use of riveting robots made by Kuka Systems. Instead, Boeing mechanics will insert fasteners into holes drilled along the circumference of fuselages used to build the 777 and 777X jets in Everett.

After enduring a manufacturing mess that spanned six years and cost millions of dollars as it implemented a large-scale robotic system for automated assembly of the 777 fuselage, Boeing has abandoned the robots and will go back to relying more on its human machinists.

Boeing said Wednesday it is adopting a different approach that “has proven more reliable, requiring less work by hand and less rework, than what the robots were capable of.”