2024
INCOM 2024 - Talk
A group of students under supervision of Mathias worked on a paper about „Potentials and Challenges of Hybrid Manufacturing for Sustainable Production“. There the specific requirements for effective additive manufacturing processes and integration into hybrid manufacturing with its challenges and opportunities are discussed. From 28. to 30. August one of the students had the chance to present their work at the 18th IFAC Symposium on Information Control Problems in Manufacturing in Vienna, Austria.
Robotics in AAL & Healthcare - Talk
Paweł and Laura joined the Robotics for the elderly, in rehabilitation and in everyday hospital life conference at begin of July in Münster, a joint event of AAL Austria & GMAR, Reha Zentum Münster and Melittaklinik. With their presentation “Advancing hand orthotics: Bridging gaps in health technologies with 3D-printing and human-centered design” they showed the current status on hand orthoses and hand rehabilitation devices and the problems that arise. They gave an insight into our work on smart hand orthoses and the benefits of implementing the 3D printing process and incorporating the human-centered design approach and transdisciplinary collaboration into the development process.
RAAD 2024 - Talk
At the begin of June the 33rd International Conference on Robotics in Alpe-Adria-Danube Region was held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. As a member of the international scientific committee Mathias joined the conference as a chair for a technical session and he presented representatively our work on „Multi-axis AM: slicer and toolpath for 2.5D/3D/5D printing,“. By using the multi-axis 3D printing approach, existing side effects of the conventional printing process can be eliminated. This requires a slicer that fulfills the specifications and enables successful multi-axis printing. The submitted paper was awarded with the “Best Application Paper Finalist Award”, which was accepted by Mathias on behalf of his colleagues.
photo © www.simionsebastian.ro
ECCOMAS 2024 - Talk
At the 9th European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering beginning of June, Ahmed presented his work on „Evaluation of Material Models Used in Multi-Material Topology Optimization“ in Lisbon, Portugal. The aim of his work was to provide guidelines for selecting the material model used in Multi-Material Topology Optimization. Several common interpolation domains and interpolation functions were compared, and he presented some recommendations in a mini-symposia.
Visit of OT WORLD 2024
Mid of May Pawel attended the OT World – the International Trade Show and World Congress in the medical aids sector in Leipzig, Germany. He got an insight in the latest innovations in the field of orthopedic technology and prosthetics. Exploring the exhibition, participating in workshops and speeches, as well as engaging with leading representatives of the industry resulted in invaluable knowledge on the current state of development of various devices. These valuable impressions, especially in the field of 3D-printing, will enrich our research efforts within the project.
Expert Workshop Hand Orthoses
Together with a group of skilled hand therapists the next step in the development of the hand orthoses was taken. The recent achievements and ideas were discussed together with experts. First models and parts were printed and tried to check for wearability and handling. During the development process it is a crucial step to get feedback from experts and users which will be included in the next iteration to create a practical, comfortable and supporting training and rehabilitation device.
2023
Stakeholder Meeting
It is important for the development process in our project to receive input and feedback from outside. Therefore, interested parties from the areas of citizens, industry, companies and academia, our stakeholders, were invited to discuss results and developments with us and to address possible problems. The results of this discussion will be considered and included in the further development process.
GMAR-Kongress: Sensor technology, Automation, Robotics and AAL - Active & Assisted Living
Two of our colleagues, Daniela and Claude, attended the GMAR-congress on Robotics in AAL & Healthcare at Melittaklinik in Bozen. Daniela’s talk “Technologies and (tele-)therapy – tolerated or accepted? About the potential of participatory research” was about important acceptance factors for the use of health technologies by therapists and patients with best practice examples and current research. Beside other outstanding lectures in that field, it was also a great opportunity for discussions and knowledge sharing.
Teaching & Training
An important task in the iL3aD project is knowledge transfer to external parties. The findings and results obtained are to be used and further developed in the future. The transfer of knowledge in the area of teaching is particularly important. We can give students an insight into research and pass on the latest findings from the various fields. The students of the Digital Dental Technology Master Course were given an insight into material testing in the form of a laboratory exercise. Each of them could carry out a test by themselves. This practical exercise helps to better understand the process and the link between theory and practice.
GACM 2023 - Poster & Talk
Ahmed presented his work and achievements in iL3aD with a talk and poster at the 10th GACM Colloquium on Computational Mechanics in Vienna, Austria. “Development of 3D printed adaptive structures for lower limb prostheses shafts” was the topic of his presentation where he explains the development of his algorithm for topology optimization of the structure. Further the material distribution can be optimized to enhance mechanical properties such as stiffness, strength or thermal properties.
Workshop - Hand Orthoses
A very crucial part in the developing process of the hand orthosis is to know how it is built and what needs to be considered. The whole team attended a workshop with Martin Schusser, an expert in the field, to gain more knowledge and insight into hand orthoses. We learned about the different types of orthoses and their usage and what materials are used for them. The fabrication process was explained using the example of a dorsal wrist cock-up splint. Step by step we saw how the splint is made and what to look out for. Afterwards we had the chance to work with the different materials on our own.
AM-Austria Networking Event
The Additive Manufacturing Austria association (AM Austria) regularly organizes events to promote member networking and collaboration. This time at WILD Group in Völkermarkt, Carinthia, Mathias introduced iL3aD project and presented our work in the different research fields with focus on additive manufacturing.
iCAT2023 - Talk
In April our colleague Paweł presented his paper “Effects of printing direction and multi-material on hardness of additively manufactured thermoplastic elastomers for comfortable orthoses and prostheses” at the 8th International Conference on Additive Technologies in Maribor, Slovenia. With the investigation of hardness changes due to the 3D-printing process, the first steps have been taken towards the development of comfortable and customised prostheses and orthoses.
EuroSimE 2023 - Talk
Our colleague Srinivas attended the 25th International Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and Multi-Physics Simulation and Experiments in Microelectronics and Microsystems in Graz, Austria, with a talk about his work on multi-axis printing in iL3aD. He presented his paper “Supportless 5-Axis 3D Printing and Conformal Slicing: A Simulation-based Approach” where he highlights the results of a simulation-based approach for 5-axis printing without the need of support structures and to print complex geometries in a non-linear way.