About.
AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING.
LiveWire is a 2 year £1.7m project supported by Innovate UK as part of the ATI program.
Wiring in aircraft, cars and many consumer electrical goods is done by hand. It is an expensive and laborious process that is prone to errors that can cause failures and sometimes even fires. The LiveWire project will create a machine that can automate manufacture and embed wiring into a component, such as: an airline seat, or a wall or floor panel, or perhaps a control panel in the flight deck. This will reduce cost and make lighter, higher-quality components. The technology will provide new employment opportunities in the UK and on-shore jobs lost to the far-east.
Progress.
RECENT UPDATES.
LiveWire Exhibiting at SMART FACTORY EXPO | 16 – 17 NOVEMBER, LIVERPOOL
LiveWire has been selected to exhibit under Q5D as part of Innovation Alley in Smart Factory Expo 2022. Located at the very heart of Smart Factory Expo, Made Smarter Innovation Alley and Emerging Tech Pavilion [...]
Non-planar additive and conductive tracks OnePLM, Q5D and Siemens NX 5-axis demo
This is Q5D's machine first printing a complex shape with it's 5-axis head then switching to the printed electronics head and adding conductive tracks, all modelled and controlled using Siemens NX's CAD/CAM software.
Automotive Industry – The escalating content dilemma
Shedding pounds In the automotive Electrical and Electronic (E/E) systems The content dilemma The never-ending development of new technologies and their addition to modern vehicles leads to a phenomenon that can be labelled [...]
Aerospace Wiring: Market Trends – The size and trends in the Electrical Wiring Interconnect System (EWIS) Market
Summary Download article as a PDF This report looks at the size and the trends that are driving the growth in the aerospace Electrical Wiring Interconnect System (EWIS) market. EWIS is [...]
Optimised Manufacturing – 5 Easy Steps to Robotic Wiring
Introduction Adding wiring to your product, whether you are making a fighter plane or a fridge, has been done in much the same way for the last 100 years. The wiring is laid up [...]
Project Kickoff
As of 1st January 2021 we are underway. This is a very exciting project for all parties. Q5D is working on calibration and control procedures. M-solv is redesigning their excellent OSM laser sintering head to [...]
Features.
PRODUCTION LINE.
The project’s robotic tools can take a complex shaped component such as an injection molded part, or composite panel and add wiring, printed electronics, terminations, surface mounted components as well as additional structure and mounting points. Automated tool-changing allows the application of additive or subtractive processing.
5-axis Fused Filament Fabrication.
Our unique system can create polymer structures with smooth curved surfaces and align the laminations to create much stronger components. This non-planar print method can create complex structures 5 – 10 times faster than existing FFF printers.
Printed Electronics.
The smooth polymer surfaces that the 5-axis additive manufacturing head can create are ideal for creating 3D conductive tracks. M-Solv supplies a laser head to the project which can cure and sinter metal paste to create printed electronics with better conductivity than any competing system.
Embedded Filaments and Wires.
Embedding wires into the polymer can make 3D structures capable of power applications as well as data, embedded fibre-optic sensors and multi-mode data fibres. It is possible to precisely add carbon or glass fibre reinforcement to a part to give local strength to a polymer component.
Pick and place components.
Printed circuit boards and key components such as touch surfaces, connectors and buttons can be positioned and fixed in place to complete a fully functional automated assembly.
Complete FMEA.
Structural analysis is key to design success but currently estimates or ignores the wiring harness. Manufacturing using our process which includes structural wiring in the design means that an entire lifecycle can be tested during the design phase for complete optimisation.
Benefits.
THE FUTURE OF LARGE AREA ELECTRONICS.
The cost to produce the wiring harness in any product is very high compared to production of moulded or machined parts. Well established automation has reduced the cost of injection moulding and CNC fabrication but wiring is still largely done by hand. Expected benefits below will be refined and proven throughout the project using demonstrators and case studies.
Collaboration
Project Partners.
This project combines the knowledge and capabilities the worlds largest aerospace companies, the most powerful and advanced CAD/CAM software systems and bleeding-edge innovations in printed electronics and motion systems.
Q5D’s robotic tools can take a complex shaped component such as an injection molded part, or composite panel and add wiring, printed electronics, terminations, surface mounted components or it can modify it with a 5-axis 3D printer.
Q5D Technologies Limited
M-Solv is a world leader in printed electronics and laser micro-machining and materials processing. They make and sell machine tools to solve problems across sectors including, thin-film solar, IC packaging, medical devices, and many others.
M-Solv Limited
OnePLM is one of the largest resellers of Siemens software worldwide. They provide Siemens software, technical consultancy and professional services. OnePLM have the expertise to be able to tailor Siemens software to suit the needs of manufacturing customers.
OnePLM Limited
One of the High Value Manufacturing CATAPULT centres. AMRC is focused primarily on the aerospace industry and partners with over 100 companies including Roll-Royce, BAE Systems, Boeing and Safran. They have considerable expertise in robotics, automation and digital manufacturing.
The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)
Safran a high-tech industrial Group operating on all continents, Safran is a key player in the propulsion and aerospace equipment, space and defense sectors.
Safran Group S.A.
Supported by Innovate UK as part of the ATI program.
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