CAM focus areas include:
- Additive Manufacturing: These processes aim to use digital models to automatically build a component by depositing material(s) in layers without requiring any part-specific tooling. CAM is developing new additive manufacturing processes for realizing multi-material and multiscale structures, composite structures, and metal parts. Work being done at CAM in this area is expected to democratize manufacturing, empower innovators, enable innovation, and reduce barriers to create new businesses based on new products.
- Robotics and Automation: We are interested in using rapidly reconfigurable and deployable robotics and automation technologies that can be used in low production volume applications to make domestic production cost-competitive and enhance national security by reducing reliance on imported goods. Representative projects in this area include mobile manipulation, robotic assembly of compliant parts, automation for meso and micro assemblies, automated finishing, robot-assisted additive manufacturing, and automation of composites fabrication.
- Smart Manufacturing: We are integrating sensors, networking, and analytics technologies to improve manufacturing operations by improving resource utilization and enabling fast recovery from errors. Representative projects in this area include improved process modeling and control through Internet-of-Things, efficient resource utilization and optimization using big data, energy-efficient automation and manufacturing, modeling, prediction, and control for personalized manufacturing, and cyber-physical security for factories
- Digital Manufacturing: We are developing simulation, visualization, analytics, planning, optimization, and collaboration tools to reduce product development time, enable innovation, and reduce waste. Representative projects in this area include high fidelity simulations of manufacturing processes, augmented and virtual reality for training human operators, manufacturing system design and optimization, automated planning, and automated instruction generation.
- Micro and Nano-Manufacturing: We work on advanced manufacturing technologies at micro and nanoscale such as self-assembly, transfer printing, and strain engineering for applications in healthcare, energy, and the environment. Our focus areas include three-dimensional assembly of functional materials, micro/nano-engineered surfaces, flexible electronics, and smart materials and structures.