AdvancedManufacturing.org
Inc. Impossible Objects made a stabilizer mount for a small aircraft for Aurora Flight Sciences. It made a fan blade for trucks for Horton. Both parts were initially created using SLS, Swartz said,
but would frequently break. In the case of the aircraft, the stabilizer mount couldn’t withstand the force during land- ing, and the fan blades would snap under the pressure of actual use testing. With CBAM, those parts can be created using a much stronger composite, so they no longer break. The company has also produced electronics enclosures
for rockets and brackets for aerospace. Impossible Objects also recently entered into a research pact with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop carbon fiber tooling using PEEK, and Swartz called the agreement a recognition of the company’s capabilities by industry experts.
The Future for Impossible Objects Kaplan got to know Swartz at Eudora Global. Eudora
was looking at investing in a different technology of Swartz’s, and as the two got to know each other, Swartz shared his new process with Kaplan.
Kaplan began working with Swartz on an informal basis in early 2014. After he became CEO in June that year, the company stepped up commercialization and sales efforts. While the company is making parts for customers to-
day, the ultimate goal is to sell CBAM machines to manu- facturing companies. “Our long term goal is to compete with injection mold-
ing,” Swartz said, adding that Impossible Objects would like to be a leader in functional parts for manufacturing. The company expects to have a prototype of its CBAM machine soon, he said. Kaplan sees the company selling CBAM machines and
materials to a growing and dedicated user base. Even though the company is in its early stages, the re-
sponse from industry has been validating, he said. “We’ve had a lot of people from companies who use additive, as well as other additive companies, look at us and really express fascination with what we’re doing.” “I feel like we’ve got something that’s really different,”
he said.
Job well done!
“In a flexible environment like ours, you need a flexible robot. One that can work without safety cages, is portable, and can be reprogrammed quickly.”*
Automation gave true advantages in the Metal & Machining industry
* Faucet maker, RSS Manufacturing & Phylrich in Costa Mesa, CA, needed an inexpensive automation solution that could easily be moved between CNC machines, assembly lines and tube benders. A collaborative robot from Universal Robots met the challenge: Production output more than doubled, opening up 30% more capacity on existing machinery.
Are you robot ready? Test how ready your company is for robotic automation and win a helping hand at
winarobot.universal-robots.com
47
WIN A ROBOT
Spring 2016
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