n TECHNOLOGY April 2026 www.drivesncontrols.com 14 RESEARCHERS AT MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the US have developed a 3D-printing platform that can create a working linear motor in a matter of hours using just five materials. The technology could allow motor users to produce their own replacement motors on-site, avoiding the need to order new machines, and potentially ending costly delays. A motor failing in automated machinery can bring production to a halt. If the site engineers don’t have a replacement available, they may have to order one from a distributor and wait for it to be delivered, causing considerable disruption. Fabricating motors needs specialised equipment and complicated processes, restricting production to specialised manufacturing sites. The new MIT system offers a time- and moneysaving alternative. It processes multiple materials, including electrically conductive materials and magnetic materials, using four extrusion tools. The printer switches between the extruders, which fabricate the motor a layer at a time. The researchers only needed to perform one post-processing step to produce a working motor. They say that their motor performs as well as, or better than, similar motors that need more complex fabrication methods or additional post-processing steps. The researchers suggest that, in the long run, their 3D printing technique could be used to fabricate customisable components rapidly for robots, medical equipment and other applications, with much less wastage. “This is a great feat, but it is just the beginning,” says Luis Fernando Velásquez-García, a principal research scientist in MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL), and senior author of a paper describing the 3D-printing platform. “We have an opportunity to fundamentally change the way things are made by making hardware on-site in one step, rather than relying on a global supply chain. With this demonstration, we’ve shown that this is feasible.” The researchers focused on 3D extrusion printing, which involves squirting materials through nozzles to fabricate objects one layer at a time. To produce the electric machine, they needed to be able to switch between multiple materials with different characteristics. For instance, the motor needed an electrically conductive material to carry electric current, as well as hard magnetic materials to generate magnetic fields for efficient energy conversion. Most multi-material 3D extrusion printing systems can only switch between two materials which both have to be in the same form – for example, filament or pellets – so the researchers retrofitted an existing printer with four extruders, each of which handles a different feedstock. They designed the extruders to balance the requirements and limitations of the material. For instance, the electrically conductive material had to be able to harden without needing large amounts of heat or UV light, because these could degrade the dielectric material. The best-performing electrically conductive materials come in the form of inks that are extruded using a pressurised system. This process has different requirements to standard extruders that use heated nozzles to squirt melted filament or pellets. “There were significant engineering challenges,” Velásquez-García reports. “We had to figure out how to marry together many different expressions of the same printing method – extrusion – seamlessly into one platform.” The researchers used strategically placed sensors and a novel control framework to allow each tool to be picked up and put down consistently by the platform’s robotic arms, and to ensure that each nozzle moves precisely and predictably. This guarantees that all of the material layers line up with each other correctly. Even a slight misalignment could affect the performance of the finished machine. After perfecting the printing platform, the researchers produced a linear motor similar to those used in pick-and-place robots and conveyors. They produced the motor in about three hours and only needed to magnetise the hard magnetic materials after printing to achieve a working machine. They estimate that the total material costs for the 3Dprinted motor were about 50 US cents. The motor was able to generate actuation forces several times higher than linear motion devices that rely on complex hydraulic amplifiers. “Even though we are excited by this engine and its performance, we are equally inspired because this is just an example of so many other things to come that could dramatically change how electronics are manufactured,” says Velásquez-García. In the future, the researchers want to integrate the magnetisation step into the multi-material extrusion process, fabricate 3D-printed rotary motors, and add more tools to their platform to enable monolithic fabrication of more complex devices. “We have an opportunity to fundamentally change the way things are made by making hardware onsite in one step, rather than relying on a global supply chain. We’ve shown this is feasible.” 3D printing breakthrough could let you print your own motors The tools used in MIT’s 3D motor printing platform. From left to right: an ink extruder; a pellet extruder; a filament extruder; and a heater. Image: Courtesy of the researchers
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