The growth of 3D Printing in manufacturing has led the Lighting Research Center to begin some exploratory research in how this could impact and benefit the lighting industry. 3D printing has already hit several industries already to augment standard manufacturing.
Despite the complexity of 3D printers, all 3D printers are based on the same principle; a digital model blueprint which is turned into a physical three-dimensional object by adding material one layer at a time. Thus the terminology Additive Manufacturing which is often what 3D printing is referred as. In 3D printing, no special tools are required. The 3D digital model is sliced by the printer’s software into thin, 2-dimensional layers and then turned into a set of instructions in machine language for the printer to execute.
The 3D printing in lighting research is being led by the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer in partnership with Carbon Group Global and numerous leaders in lighting, from Current by GE, Acuity Brands lighting, Finelite, Hubbell Lighting, Tempo Lighting and more. The goal is to understand how to best assimilate 3D printing within the lighting industry to benefit all stakeholders, while understanding how this would affect the current ecosystem.
Through it’s research, the group intends to develop an industry roadmap to make 3D printing a viable option for the lighting business. Potential benefits center around 3D printing’s ability to create custom products that are uniquely designed for various lighting applications. This would allow fixtures to be printed on-site and on-demand, reducing long lead-times for manufacturers and end users. Individual lighting components from drivers to heat sinks and optics could be customized in ways that traditional manufacturing is simply unable to do.
While they are still in the prototyping stage, with the aid of further research, we may see 3D printing capabilities emerge for the lighting industry in the years ahead. Stay tuned for more information on 3D Printing for Solid-State Lighting.