Tenders Are Invited For Additive Manufactured Compliant Mechanism System With Integrated Sensor/Actuator - Expro+

Tenders are invited for Additive Manufactured Compliant Mechanism System with Integrated Sensor/Actuator - Expro+. There is a current trend in the area of embedded sensors using advanced manufacturing techniques, these are currently being developed in for use embedded in flexible elements (e.g. Integrated Flex Pivot Position Sensor critical elements) with potential for other applications. Tribology free compliant mechanisms are one of the strategic pillars in the mechanisms domain and past studies in this area using additive manufacturing produced some very promising concepts with value for New Space applications. Promising concepts also exist for smart actuators using materials such as Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) to efficiently generate motion. The combination of the mechanisms guiding, sensing and actuating function to form a single tribology free monolithic mechanism is novel and not something existing on the market. Combining both large range Additive Manufactured flexure pivot technology, together with the ability to integrate sensors and smart actuating elements inside a compliant mechanism will increase competitiveness by facilitating quicker agile design and manufacturing cycles of mechanisms combined with reduced part count, lower mass and cost.This activity aims at developing a monolithic additive manufactured compliant mechanism with integrated sensing and/or smart actuation, enabling both guiding of a specific motion as well as the relevant sensing and routing of the internal power and signal lines within a single monolithic stiffness optimised part. This activity encompasses the following tasks:- Perform literature review to identify technologies of interest. For sensing, this includes particular focus on appropriate printing/sputtered technologies. For actuating, this includes particular focus on Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs);- Definition of driving requirements for the compliant mechanism and integrated sensor/actuator system, including range of motion, sensing performance, life, stiffness and power/signal routing;- Preliminary design of the compliant mechanism and integrated sensor/actuator system, ending with a trade-off to down select the most promising concepts;- Detailed design of the compliant mechanism and integrated sensor/actuator system Bread Board - Manufacturing of Integrated Flex Pivot Position Sensor/Actuator Bread Board;- Test campaign of the Integrated Flex Pivot Position Sensor/Actuator breadboard;- Summary of verified performance and future development plan.Procurement Policy: C(2) = A relevant participation (in terms of quality and quantity) of non-primes (incl. SMEs) is required. For additional information please go to:http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Business_with_ESA/Small_and_Medium_Sized_Enterprises/Opportunities_forSMEs/Procurement_policy_on_fair_access_for_SMEs_-_the_C1-C4_Clauses Tender Link : https://esastar-publication-ext.sso.esa.int/ESATenderActions/filter/open