nScrypt, Inc. announced that Kratos SRE, Inc., a subsidiary of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., has purchased an nScrypt 3Dx-700 3D manufacturing system. Kratos SRE specializes in the development, modeling and deployment of advanced materials for extreme environments, ISR sensor development, electromechanical systems design and integration, aerospace engineering, materials engineering, artificial intelligence and machine learning, directed energy, RF systems design and integration, advanced manufacturing and computational sciences.  

The Kratos system will be a fully loaded 3Dx-700 with full vision, rotary stage, and four tool heads, including:

  • 700 x 700 x 200 mm gantry
  • two rotary axes
  • process view camera for live, magnified view of microdispensing 
  • point sensor surface mapping for conformal printing on non-flat surfaces angled up to 45 degrees
  • 150 x 150 mm heated bed and heated chuck
  • SmartPump™ microdispensing tool head with 100 picoliter volumetric control and a wide range of viscosity and materials choices 
  • integrated tool changer 
  • pick and place tool head, for placing electronic components
  • nFD™ material extrusion tool head, which extrudes a wide variety of commercial and custom thermoplastics 
  • thermally resistant assembly, up to 400C 
  • nMill™ tool head with variable motor speed micro drill and micro mill (rotation speed varies from 1000 to 50,000RPM)
  • calibration pit
  • dual digital output cameras for manual calibration of tool heads.

Michael Johns, senior vice president of Kratos SRE said, We selected this nScrypt multi-axis system for our Hybrid Additive Manufacturing program, which endeavors to deliver multi-material printing technology with integrated circuit printing in order to change the game in how we think about and produce critical concepts for the U.S. Government. Our goal is to rapidly prototype and field complex test articles that would be difficult to design and produce without a totally integrated manufacturing process like the nScrypt platform.

According to nScrypt’s CEO, Dr. Ken Church, This multi-axis factory in a tool, which moves beyond XYZ 3D printing to true 3D manufacturing, will enable Kratos SRE to 3D manufacture complete products, like functioning electronic devices, in true 3D, making complex shapes with integral electronics and fine surface finish.  The printed electronics applications are game-changing and virtually unlimited. Kratos SRE will be able to conformally print circuits, antennas, strain gauges or sensors on or in the structure of virtually any shaped electronic device or object.