Optomec (www.optomec.com), a global supplier of production-grade additive-manufacturing (AM) systems for 3-D printed electronics and 3-D printed metals, has been awarded a NASA SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) contract for the further development of an adaptive laser sintering system (ALSS).

The success of this endeavour will enable electronic circuitry to be printed on a wider variety of temperature-sensitive substrates, expanding the use of ALSS for production applications.

Furthermore, the fully automated system will allow printed circuitry to be repaired or manufactured with minimal human intervention, paving the way for its use in long-duration NASA space missions.

Optomec CTO Mike Renn said: “After the successful design, test and implementation of ALSS, the science and technology of laser sintering will be better understood for controllable adaptive operations.

ALSS can be a key solution to NASA’s challenge of in-space on-demand manufacturing capabilities to support the unique challenges of long-duration human spaceflight, which requires an automated adaptive in-line quality control system along with the associated manufacturing process.”