KRAKEN, an all-in-one manufacturing machine to disrupt production

A few months ago we followed the development of the KRAKEN project, a system that combines both 3D printing technologies, robotics, and subtractive technologies. Thanks to its robotic arm, the system is able to 3D print surfaces of 20 square meters. Additionally, the variety of manufacturing materials KRAKEN can process make it 40% faster, 25% more productive and 30% cheaper according to the team behind the project. In order to learn more about the system, we interviewed José Antonio Dieste, researcher and coordinator behind the KRAKEN project, working for the AITIIP technology centre.

3DN: Could you introduce yourself and tell us about your relationship with 3D printing?

I’m José Antonio Dieste, head of robotics and mechatronics at AITIIP. At AITIIP we have been using 3D printing technologies since 2000, when we incorporated our first machine (an SLS machine), which is still in operation. At that time the term additive manufacturing or 3D printing did not yet exist and we called it rapid prototyping. That machine and technology was too advanced for its time. We were trying to exploit it as a technology service for companies, and although it was very visual for all our customers, they still didn’t see a direct application to their business. It was the big companies, especially in the automotive sector, who started hiring us to make aesthetic prototypes for their developments.

José Antonio Dieste

However, internally our engineering team made massive use of the machine as an internal resource, to validate new developments, new designs, and reduce the need for iterations in development, which made us more competitive by reducing project development times. Today, we have a large diversity of materials, technologies, in addition to all our lines of research, both in materials and in advanced processes and circular economy, which is anchored in 3D printing.