A three dimensional, additively manufactured interdigital capacitive sensor for fluid level measurement applications is introduced. The device was fabricated using the fused filament fabrication (FFF) additive manufacturing (AM) process and an off the shelf conductive filament with a volume resistivity ρ = 0.6 Ω cm. The 3D fabrication process allows great flexibility in terms of sensor ̇ design and an increase of the surface area between the electrodes, compensating the relatively large plate separation and yielding a high sensitivity to increasing fluid levels. The measurements presented in this abstract show the average increase of capacitance in response to an incrementally increasing volume of de-ionized water (DI-water) filled between the separate digits.

Abstract-This paper describes a measurement system for industry applications where the weight of containers or cable rolls has to be monitored in a flexible way. The measurement system can be used to build several kinds of weight cell applications in which the low power sensor is battery powered and able to communicate with a master unit through a wireless network. The system requirements are described and all blocks derived from these requirements are presented. The implementation of the wireless network includes a peer-to-peer connection between multiple measurement units with the master unit by using just one communication channel.

Digital manufacturing (DM) processes such as additive manufacturing (AM) technology, allow a high degree of integrability and functionality of printed parts. In this work, we present a proof of the DM concept focused on the integration approach where a product is developed and embedded with sensors. We also take this example one step further and introduce a method that allows 3D printing of heating elements into the specimens. The thermal characteristics of the developed heaters are investigated, and the results detailed. The novelty relates to a heater prototype injected and solidified into a curved 3D printed channel, which can produce a temperature between 23-46°C on the printed surface of the sample both in a dry and wet environment. This research demonstrates that it is possible to construct parts with embedded electrical structures using the described method.

The paper introduces a new measurement device which allows collecting the chipping force in three directions and additionally the process temperature. The apparatus consists of a specially designed tool holder with integrated strain gauges, the electronic measuring equipment and the evaluation software. During the first period a new device for research and development purposes has been designed, experiments on innovative materials are presented including the comparison with simulation results. The next step of the project incorporates the product development based on the previous experience with targets accuracy, cost effectiveness, reliability and the possibility of active damping of tool vibrations. To achieve the last mentioned demand a piezoelectric actuator is integrated into the tool shank and works against the vibration forces.

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