-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- pcb007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueThe Growing Industry
In this issue of PCB007 Magazine, we talk with leading economic experts, advocacy specialists in Washington, D.C., and PCB company leadership to get a well-rounded picture of what’s happening in the industry today. Don’t miss it.
The Sustainability Issue
Sustainability is one of the most widely used terms in business today, especially for electronics and manufacturing but what does it mean to you? We explore the environmental, business, and economic impacts.
The Fabricator’s Guide to IPC APEX EXPO
This issue previews many of the important events taking place at this year's show and highlights some changes and opportunities. So, buckle up. We are counting down to IPC APEX EXPO 2024.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - pcb007 Magazine
Enabling a New Paradigm for Flexible, Point of Need Design and Manufacturing
March 18, 2024 | DARPAEstimated reading time: 1 minute
The Department of Defense (DOD) needs the flexibility to manufacture critical structures at the time and point of need using locally available materials. Yet current manufacturing approaches for forward production operate under the assumption that pristine raw materials will be readily available; furthermore, any change in material input would require costly redesign. This means that structure designs are reliant on fixed inputs to produce fixed outputs, hindering the flexibility required for forward production where raw materials and resources are limited.
DARPA’s new Rubble to Rockets (R2) program aims to overcome current limitations to manufacturing in supply chain-denied environments by developing production and design approaches that can accommodate widely variable input materials. Performers will focus on creating an inexpensive, flexible, and robust platform for the production and characterization of raw material for use in structural fabrication. They will then seek to apply that platform to adaptively update a sounding rocket’s structural design.
“Existing manufacturing approaches require stability. Building a framework that can enable the manufacture of structures out of anything, anywhere, and at many sizes would break the status quo for manufacturing in resource-contested environments,” said Hunter Martin, DARPA’s program manager for the R2 program. “We’re focusing on sounding rockets for proof of concept because they represent a single-use structure with multiple components and complex structural requirements, but anticipate broad applicability to a wide range of manufacturing use cases – from spare parts and infrastructure repair to system production.”
R2 will also look to leverage material informatics and innovative processing and manufacturing techniques to dramatically drive down the timeframes and scale needed for production.
DARPA hypothesizes that the analytical framework R2 aims to develop would allow for rapid upgrades to incorporate the growing number of new material developments and fabrication methods, thus significantly reducing adoption risk that traditionally can take decades to retire. Additionally, advances in material conversion and learnings from the program may open entirely new spaces for highly available material with a lower-risk supply chain and energy footprint.
DARPA will share further details on R2 in a forthcoming Program Solicitation (PS). An R2 Industry Day is scheduled for Mar. 18, 2024, to provide information to potential proposers on the objectives of the program.
Suggested Items
The Shaughnessy Report: Unlock Your High-speed Material Constraints
05/15/2024 | Andy Shaughnessy -- Column: The Shaughnessy ReportThe world of PCB materials used to be a fairly simple one. It was divided into two groups: the “traditional” laminates, often called FR-4, and the high-speed laminates developed especially for high-speed PCBs. These were two worlds that usually didn’t collide. But then traditional laminates started getting better, and high-speed designers and design engineers took notice and started to reconsider what FR-4 could be used for.
Breaking High-speed Material Constraints: Design007 Magazine — May 2024
05/14/2024 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamDo you need specialty materials for your high-speed designs? Maybe not. Improvements in resins mean designers of high-speed boards can sometimes use traditional laminate systems instead of high-speed materials, saving time and money while streamlining the fab process. In the May 2024 issue of Design007 Magazine, our contributors explain how to avoid overconstraining your materials when working with high-speed boards.
Indium Experts to Present at Electronics in Harsh Environments SMTA Conference
05/13/2024 | Indium Corporationndium Corporation Technical Manager for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, Karthik Vijay, will deliver a technical presentation and Indium Corporation Senior Technologist, Dr. Ronald Lasky, will deliver both a workshop and technical presentation at the Electronics in Harsh Environments SMTA Conference on May 14-16 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ansys’ Collaboration with Schrödinger will Accelerate Materials Development with Unprecedented Multiscale Simulation
05/09/2024 | ANSYSAnsys and Schrödinger are collaborating to deliver an ICME approach that bridges the gap between materials discovery and product development.
2024 Apple iPad Pro Estimated to Ship Between 4.5 to 5 Million Units
05/08/2024 | TrendForceApple’s recent product launch in May introduced a lineup of new tablets featuring advanced AMOLED screens. Notably, the Pro version boasts a dual-layer tandem structure designed to address the longstanding challenges of screen burn-in and lifespan that are common with AMOLED displays.