Multi-domain Adaptive Control

The Naval fleet suffers from long lead times to obtain replacements for broken, worn, or otherwise failed parts. When underway, failed parts can only be replaced if the ship’s supply center, that has limited inventory space, has the parts in stock. Additive manufacturing (AM) will offer the potential to reduce supply chain issues through shipboard manufacturing of replacement parts on an as-needed basis, thereby, increasing the readiness, sustainment, and enhanced warfighting capabilities of the Navy. ARiA and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) will develop the standalone Multi-Domain Adaptive Control (MDAC) system that will provide active vibration mitigation using a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) active vibration isolation (AVI) table, and a novel closed-loop motion control algorithm that accurately predicts and corrects the position of the nozzle/head when it is perturbed from its intended trajectory due to structural-borne vibration or innate drivetrain dynamics. MDAC can easily be adapted to AM printers of various types in a wide variety of environments, thus, supporting the Navy's ongoing efforts in quickly expanding the utility of at-sea AM methods.