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The Australian Defence Force is encouraging service personnel to utilise 3D printers and produce designs using computer-aided design software.
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ADF personnel can use the MakerSpace at Latchford Barracks, which contains tools such as 3D printers and a scanner, CNC router and cutter, along with electrical kits to teach basic coding.
The space is one of many at Army bases around Australia and is designed to encourage personnel to develop cognitive learning and knowledge of emerging technologies.
The Latchford MakerSpace currently welcomes around 400 to 500 visitors a month, representing a third of all visits to MakerSpace sites across Australia.
Site supervisor Andrew Haines said personnel have already used the MakerSpace at Latchford Barracks to create complex items and learn about 3D printing fundamentals.
“The bloke who made that (T-800 Terminator) skull had to teach himself 3D printing and how to do the basic circuitry to get the LED eyes in,” Haines said.
Personnel must learn how to set 3D printers and produce designs using CAD (computer-aided design) software before they can walk away with something they’ve made.
Haines said the goal was to improve cognitive learning and knowledge of emerging technologies.
Despite the majority of work produced for personal use, medics have printed training aids and RAEME (Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) instructors have made miniature working gear sets to help trainees visualise gearboxes.
Regular MakerSpace user and Army School of Logistic Operations instructor Sergeant Steven Richardson used the space’s 3D printers to create terrain for Latchford’s wargaming simulation centre.
“There’s a lot of design, problem-solving, creativity skills being developed,” he said.
“In future, there’s going to be more 3D printing of stuff as it becomes more commercially available.
“You can buy 3D-printed stuff off the shelves now. I can see it being in the wider Army more and more. So it’s handy to pick up those skills.”
While users prefer 3D printing because it’s easy to learn, the space also includes more complex tools such as a CNC (computer numerical control) router and laser cutter for computer-controlled object shaping.
Popular activities include creating items to hold hats and laser engraving corps badges on metal drink bottles.
“You’ll get a run on things. Someone will do something and then everyone else will say ‘I want that’; then everyone’s tripping over themselves to do something like printing on T-shirts,” Haines said.
The space is also open for a few hours after work, and Haines said it had also served a de facto mental health function, where personnel could relax and work on a project.
“There will be a lightbulb moment. You’ll show them something they’ve been stumbling on, and then bang, they’re right into it,” he said.
“Most of the equipment is quite intuitive. You can jump on and start creating stuff pretty quickly.
“If you get someone in and interested, then they walk out with something – they’re pretty happy.”
There will also be challenges undertaken, including who can print something the fastest with the most detail or who can convert a mousetrap into a car to go the furthest distance.
The Latchford MakerSpace is open to all military personnel from the surrounding area. It is one of the most popular sites and has a third of total users across the MakerSpace sites.
Earlier this year, a team of engineers from the US Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research and Education loaded their 3D hybrid-metal printer onboard the San Antonio Class amphibious transport dock, USS Somerset, as part of the experimentation sector of Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2024.
During the exercise in July, a critical component of the reverse osmosis pump, which generates clean water for the crew, shattered and was replaced by the onboard 3D printer.
“What we didn’t expect was that we would have the opportunity to directly help ship readiness so soon,” said Lieutenant Charles Wallace, a mechanical engineer from the Naval Postgraduate School and one of the team members onboard.
“Especially for something as mission-essential as a reverse osmosis pump, where if you run out of water, you’re going to be coming home pretty quick.
“The benefit of a system like this is that you’re able to computerise, send the code, then once you’ve printed something, it becomes replicable.”
In April this year, the amphibious transport dock, USS San Diego (LPD 22), piloted a liquid metal jetting additive manufacturing process fielded by the CAMRE team, operationally showcasing this novel technology’s capabilities at sea.
