Additive Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing Techniques Being Developed

Additive roll-to-roll manufacturing combines 3-D printing techniques with paper-thin devices that yield new innovations such as advanced sensors and electronic circuits. This technology has the potential to reduce prices, increase efficiency of devices and revolutionize wireless sensors.

R&D Magazine reports researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have produced sensor prototypes using additive roll-to-roll manufacturing. This technique revolves around plastics and adhesives rather than thick wires and circuit boards. Electronic circuits are made using 3-D printing on thin sheets of plastic, a process that creates smaller, cheaper and easier-to-install sensors. Printers place adhesives on a thin sheet of plastic, and the wireless sensors are attached to electronic equipment.

These ultra-low power sensors can monitor internal temperatures, humidity and light levels of buildings. Instead of expensive wireless sensor nodes that cost between $150 and $300, engineers believe the additive roll-to-roll manufacturing process could reduce costs to just $1 to $10 per unit. Environmental sensors get cheaper, and then they can be deployed to more areas within a building. More sensors means better power management throughout a building, and researchers believe their new sensors can reduce power costs by as much as 20 to 30 percent.

Buildings consume 40 percent of America's power. New construction could incorporate these sensors, and older buildings can be retrofitted. Lower-cost sensors would pay for themselves in a few years, researchers claim, due to lower utility bills. Larger buildings and corporations stand to benefit the most.

These wireless sensors provide data that enable continuous monitoring, pollution detection and fault detection. Additive roll-to-roll manufacturing does more than just reduce energy consumption. Sensors can even tell computer systems when to notify repair personnel and technicians when a problem needs to be fixed. Staff time is reduced and problems get identified sooner before higher-cost repairs must be made to environmental systems.

Applications of additive roll-to-roll manufacturing include photovoltaic cells, electronic circuits, antennas and batteries. The trick becomes getting costs down, which is the ultimate aim of the lab's research. The Department of Energy looks to get a cooperative development agreement with a major electronics manufacturer.

Additive manufacturing already shows promise in nontraditional manufacturing fields such as biomedical sciences, aerospace engineering and retail shopping. Doctors can create surgical parts from scratch without having to wait for delivery. Small, specialized engine parts for airplanes are made on-site rather than waiting for a manufacturer to receive an order. On-the-spot manufacturing alleviates supply-chain concerns, reduces shipping times and keeps costs lower.

Future applications of additive roll-to-roll manufacturing include companies that quickly print components for electronic devices. Businesses can just press the Print button on the computer screen to get innovation going. Photovoltaic cells and batteries may one day roll out of a printing-press-like contraption rather than a traditional assembly line.

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