SA Astatine is a study association for Advanced Technology and Nanotechnology students at the University of Twente. An international non-profit association that supports the students (and staff) of advanced technology and nanotechnology in creating community, creating opportunities for personal development and evaluating the curriculum. This is done through a combination of both educational and extracurricular activities.

Robots that are flexible in working hours and that perform regular actions so that you can work more efficiently. When do you deploy a robot and what is the tipping point to automate processes? And what is the advantage of 3D printing? These topics were covered in the masterclasses Robotics and 3D printing from the companies Beenen, BD Kiestra and Philips. The students of study association Astatine followed these lectures online at Innovatiecluster Drachten (ICD).

Thom Pijper, project leader at Philips, asked the students what exactly 3D metal printing entails and what the difference is with conventional production techniques. The benefits of 3D printing were explained with concrete examples from the industry. 

For example, the companies within ICD use 3D printing techniques such as selective laser melting, with which metals can be printed, and multi-jet fusion, with which plastics can be printed.

Thom gave two examples of applications for these techniques: the manufacture of complex molds for injection molding and end-of-arm tools for robots. Clearly explained Thom, the students were enthusiastic!

Martijn Kuiper van Beenen knows a lot about Robotics, he gave an extensive presentation and said that current interns are working on the R&D project 'FFF', which stands for Flexible production Fit for Future. Various steps in automation are examined here. For example, it is checked whether a robot can pick up something and move it to another location. Or a robot that transfers an item from a certain box size to another box size. The aim of these studies is to make processes as flexible as possible.

The most important question you should really ask, said Martijn, “how does a robot best fit into the process and the concept. You have to ask yourself how fast something has to go and how many products are involved.” This way you choose the right tool or attachment for the work that needs to be done.

Several students asked some questions that went a bit more in depth. We could conclude from this that they found it an interesting subject from which they certainly learned something!
Thank you Ben for your contribution.

From BD in Drachten, Antons Prokopenko gave an interesting presentation about several cases and spoke about Robot simulation software and the automation of processes, for which he received many 'thumbs up' from the students.

“With our products we not only make more samples, but we are also more efficient and cost-effective,” says Antons.

The question that is sometimes asked whether people lose their jobs due to the arrival of a robot, Antons answered: “Of course it is never nice to lose your job, but when one person loses his or her job, think about how many people you save money by using robots because processes run more efficiently and higher production can be achieved with the use of robotics.”

With these techniques we can contribute to health and society. 

The masterclasses ended with a high-tech pub quiz that sometimes contains some difficult questions, but also some giveaways 😉

The winner, this time someone from Friesland will receive a nice prize!

Do you also want to participate in high-tech projects and solve problems for the future in the fields of climate action, security, clean energy, water quality, health and even peace? Take a look at our vacancy and internship page: icdrachten.nl/en/job-search or icdrachten.nl/stages