DoD likes this 3D printer developed for deployed troops to use in the field

Kenneth Church, CEO of nScrypt

nScrypt

By Sarah Kinbar - Staff writer

June 29, 2023, 11:38am EDT

When troops are deployed and something goes wrong, they need what they need, right where they are. As such, a product by Orlando-based nScrypt caught the U.S. Department of Defense’s attention.

The technology, called nRugged, is a 3D printer that proposes to work in -40 degrees and is part of nScrypt’s 'Factory in a Tool' series of high-precision motion platforms for 3D manufacturing.

The product was part of the first Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology Point of Need Challenge Pitch Event aimed to discover innovative manufacturing solutions worth investing in. The military entity is interested in solutions that function well in austere conditions, such as arctic cold or intense heat and humidity, since the military can be deployed in every possible climate.

The DoD challenge elicited 63 concept papers, each answering one of these calls: the Warfighter Medical, Health, and Nutrition Challenge; the Staying in the Fight Challenge; and the Cyber Challenge. Ultimately, reviewers and judges whittled those entries down to six selections that will get funding: a total of $2.5 million plus nearly $700,000 from industry partner contributions.

NScrypt is one of the six. Another of the six is Sciperio, nScrypt's sister company, which leverages the nScrypt BioAssembly Tools bio printer to manufacture blood.

The award was announced in May, but a demonstration in a simulated cold weather environment won’t happen until November, when nScrypt plans to demonstrate that its printer can fabricate a replacement electronic printed circuit board, repair a damaged printed circuit board, print a replacement mechanical part and manufacture a customized biomedical brace. The demonstration will take place at US Army Corps of Engineers' Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Three nScrypt team members and two Sciperio team members will go to Hanover and all five will support both projects: nScrypt's 3D printing and Sciperio's blood manufacturing. The DoD is funding each to the tune of $350,000 and $300,000, respectively.

Here, Orlando Inno spoke with CEO Kenneth Church to learn more about nSrypt’s products and the upcoming demonstration.

What is 3D printing, and how has it changed?

It always takes a very long time for things to grow up and mature and become mainstream. And that's really where we're at now. I give talks about it across the country and overseas and make jokes about how far 3D printing has come. I tell people, ‘There's somebody in this audience who has a 3D printer in their bathroom.’

Additive manufacturing was originally the formal term for 3D printing, starting back in the 1980s. It made sense because additive manufacturing really meant it would go layer by layer. A machine would add a layer, then another layer, and more layers until you ended up with a 3D object. Then 3D printing became the common term.

3D printers were once hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, some are sold for under $1,000. The printers can do a lot more now, too. There will come a point where I can ask a 3D printer to make a smartphone in the shape of Oakley sunglasses. Then, not only will I look cool, I’ll be cool.

What is it about nScrypt’s products that made them a fit for the Manufacturing Technology Point of Need Challenge Pitch Event?

The evolution of the technology makes it interesting to the federal government. Federal governments see that the need is not in laboratories. The need is where the war fighter might be. From a NASA point of view, they have needs as well. Their needs would be on the International Space Station or the moon or Mars. Our heaviest tool is 25,000 pounds, but how do I get a 25,000-pound printer on the moon? The advancement of the tech and the smaller, lighter products make it possible. Right now, our lightest tool is 500 pounds, but we want to get it down further, because 500 pounds is still a lot to move around at a point of need.

What will the November demonstration be like for you and your team?

We’re thinking about it in practical terms. If a Humvee or a fighter jet has a broken circuit board, we put it in our system, we look at it and we find the part that's not working. We clean that out, and it's all done inside the system. And then it comes back repaired.

We’ll be doing that kind of work in minus 40 degrees during the follow-on demonstration. Minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit and minus 40 degrees Celsius are the same temperature, by the way, if you ever need that for a trivia question. It’s the one place where Fahrenheit and Celsius meet.

What do you see for 3D printing’s future?

Everything's gonna go smart. You’ll have a smart water bottle. Maybe it needs to tell the water to stay cool. Maybe it needs to tell you, ‘Fill me up.’ Your watch and your glasses will be smart. They’ll contour to you and fit perfectly. Your tattoo could become a wearable device.