[INTERVIEW] Spencer Koroly, NWIC Pacific: Rugged 3D Printer for Area Deployment and In-Flight Manufacturing

3D printing whereas airborne aboard a tiltrotor plane or throughout off-road manoeuvres in navy autos is an irregular testing strategy for brand new 3D printers. But, below these excessive situations a US Navy developed expeditionary 3D printer rose to the problem. I spoke with the mission result in be taught extra.

The Superior Manufacturing Operational System, or AMOS, is a compact, ruggedised polymer printer designed by the Naval Data Warfare Heart (NIWC) Pacific to fill a longstanding operational hole: dependable, field-deployable additive manufacturing for autonomous methods.

Spencer Koroly, a technical mission supervisor at NIWC Pacific, led the trouble to construct AMOS after a request from a Marine in 2019. “He requested me, ‘What can I take with me to the sector tonight to construct and restore drones?’” mentioned Koroly. “Again then, there wasn’t a machine that would ship the pace, materials high quality, and reliability wanted within the area. That was the place to begin.”

AMOS was conceived as a dual-use system: appropriate for each Division of Protection (DoD) and non-military functions. The core problem was decreasing construct time for purposeful components. A drone that beforehand required 150 hours of print time utilizing legacy methods was produced in simply 9 hours utilizing AMOS. The system was optimised for ABS and ASA fairly than lower-grade supplies like PLA, making certain thermal stability and robustness in harsh environments.

“We needed to take that 150-hour drone print and compress it below a day,” Koroly defined. “It needed to be one thing you could possibly use instantly and belief structurally. In any other case, you’re simply transport components once more.”

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Excessive testing for AMOS infight and onboard

Koroly’s background in mechanical engineering and robotics helped form a machine designed each for portability and excessive operational resilience. The 3D printer has been examined inside a V-22 Osprey whereas in flight, on a Navy Touchdown Craft Utility (LCU), and through off-road checks in a Joint Gentle Tactical Automobile (JLTV), the fashionable Humvee equal. “The printer held up. We bought good components off it even when the car was leaping off the bottom,” Koroly famous, together with a medical solid printed mid-flight. These situations validated the machine’s structural resilience below shock and vibration hundreds. “The medical solid we printed in flight was fully usable. The design emphasises rigidity. It’s some of the volumetrically environment friendly extrusion printers on the market,” Koroly mentioned, noting that body compactness, bolstered movement methods, and minimised transferring mass cut back print disruption throughout car motion.

Koroly described NIWC’s mission construction as nearer to academia than conventional defence contracting. Engineers submit mission proposals, akin to analysis grants, to develop new capabilities. “I selfishly needed a printer I might use daily,” he mentioned. “So I proposed constructing one that would additionally meet an actual operational want.”

Now in its fourth era, AMOS has already been utilized in demanding environments. Throughout RIMPAC 2024, 5 AMOS models had been deployed at a Marine Corps base and two aboard the USS Somerset. The mission staff collaborated with the Naval Postgraduate College and different protection labs to validate how polymer additive manufacturing might complement metallic AM in emergency restore workflows. When a reverse osmosis pump on the Somerset failed, AMOS was used to supply a geometry validation half in simply eight hours. This polymer take a look at half confirmed dimensional accuracy earlier than a hybrid wire-arc metallic AM course of was used to supply the ultimate half. “The crew couldn’t produce sufficient consuming water. That half helped us validate the geometry earlier than committing to a multi-day metallic restore. It was a real-world instance of additive de-risking the restore course of,” Koroly mentioned.

The AMOS program additionally addresses a bigger concern: the Navy’s want for cellular, localised manufacturing to help distributed operations. Koroly envisions ships and ahead bases as “cellular digital warehouses,” enabled by additive applied sciences. “If the printer is aboard, and the design file exists, you can also make the half in hours as an alternative of ready days or even weeks for supply.”

In parallel, Koroly’s staff is evaluating new applied sciences, together with hybrid metallic AM processes and AI-assisted half era. Whereas text-to-CAD methods stay immature, he believes they might unlock manufacturing potential for personnel with out conventional design expertise. “The particular person on the manufacturing facility ground or within the area typically is aware of precisely what they want however lacks the CAD fluency. If AI can bridge that, we unlock an enormous functionality.”

Nonetheless, AM faces persistent limitations to adoption. “The navy is usually sluggish to adapt. Additive has lengthy been seen as an answer on the lookout for an issue,” Koroly mentioned. “However we’re now on the level the place the instruments are dependable sufficient, and the issues effectively outlined sufficient, that adoption is accelerating.”

The success of AMOS might sign a broader shift towards distributed manufacturing throughout the US navy, with additive manufacturing forming the spine of a resilient, on-demand provide chain.

Safe 3D printing methods designed for delicate functions 

Safety stays a central concern. Additive manufacturing methods working in navy contexts should meet stringent cybersecurity protocols, significantly for deployment aboard ships. AMOS is present process the Authority to Function (ATO) course of, with NIWC’s cybersecurity groups co-developing hardening strategies and safeguards for digital design information and machine controls. “We minimise tampering dangers utilizing safe file repositories and design verification methods,” Koroly defined. “AMOS itself should meet cybersecurity necessities earlier than it may be loaded aboard a deployed vessel.”

To make sure compatibility with navy methods, the printer has configurable modules to satisfy cybersecurity and procurement requirements. “You’ll be able to take away or change elements like cameras relying on the deployment setting,” Koroly added. This modularity is essential because the mission enters its dual-use part. 

The safety problem will not be theoretical. Throughout our dialog, we mentioned prior public demonstrations the place digital information for 3D printed drones had been manipulated to fail mid-flight. “There are well-known examples of sabotage by way of file modification,” mentioned Koroly. “That’s why we depend on safe, government-managed repositories, not open websites, and add scanning and design verification layers earlier than components are accepted for printing.”

NIWC can be addressing the human components that may decide expertise adoption in the actual world. “We had Marines construct their very own AMOS models earlier than deployment,” Koroly mentioned. “It meant they understood the system. When a filament jam occurred, I obtained a message at 10 pm from a Marine who fastened it in minutes. That possession issues.” The emphasis is obvious: “Think about you’re sleep-deprived, chilly, hungry, and below stress. Now, attempt to function unfamiliar tools. Know-how must work in that situation.”

The DoD’s first business licensee for AMOS is the Chicago Additive mission. The group will concentrate on bringing AMOS to marketplace for industrial customers whereas sustaining the ruggedness, half reliability, and configuration controls that outline the unique unit.

NIWC is already working towards fleet-wide standardisation. “A college might design a mission-critical half, and so long as the fabric and geometry requirements are met, that file could possibly be manufactured wherever throughout a globally distributed navy community,” Koroly mentioned. 

Additive manufacturing can be gaining operational legitimacy inside Navy logistics. Koroly cited the emergence of ships as “cellular digital warehouses,” the place polymer printers can produce mission-critical components in a matter of hours. “We’re seeing the shift now. Again in 2012, we heard a couple of printer in each residence. In the present day, many components have gotten digital merchandise. Print-on-demand is actual.”

When requested what he would prioritise with limitless finances and nil purple tape, fairly than cite a selected expertise, Koroly had a unique want. “I’d get the DoD customary locked in,” he mentioned. “A transparent customary for polymer additive manufacturing would open up iteration, speed up collaboration, and rework how provide chains work throughout protection and trade.”

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Featured picture exhibits AMOS 3D printers deployed throughout a US Navy train. Picture by way of NIWC Pacific.