Using Additive Manufacturing to Build Drone Components

Mechanical engineers in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Global Security Directorate used computer-aided design and the latest additive manufacturing techniques to design and build custom components for drones.

"I think it’s amazing," said Lawrence Livermore engineer Brian Wihl . "To have this [pen] essentially next to our building, we can just come out here and fly. We don’t have to make sure we meet all the requirements that add a lot of overhead. It basically allows us to be a lot more efficient in our testing, achieve quicker turnaround times and, as we move forward and really figure out our operations, it’s really going to benefit our projects and make sure we get the data and testing we need a lot faster."