Additive Manufacturing & the Internet-of-things - Investigating the feasibilty of web enabling Additive Manufacturing systems as discrete supply chain elements

该项目研究了将增材制造（AM）硬件作为物联网设备的可行性，以及启用分布式“网格AM”供应链所需的系统架构。该项目研究了管理方法、软件协议和硬件架构，这些将允许增材制造机器的网络启用，并允许对潜在的增材制造供应链进行建模和仿真。该项目最初基于开源消费者3D打印硬件、WebGL和HTML 5协议，以及调查手机和平板电脑等接口设备在供应链管理中的作用。该项目旨在提供一份报告，概述网格增材制造商业模式在玩具和电脑游戏行业的商业优势和局限性，以及网格增材制造解决方案在其他高价值制造业领域的潜力。

This project investigates the feasibility of enabling Additive Manufacturing (AM) hardware as internet-Of-Things devices, and the systems architecture needed to enable a distributed ‘Grid-AM’ supply chain. The project investigates management methodologies, software protocols and hardware architecture that will allow the web enablement of AM machines, and allow for the modelling and simulation of potential AM supply chains. The project is initially based around open-source consumer 3D Printing hardware, WebGL and HTML 5 protocols, as well as investigating the role of interface devices such as phones and tablets in the management of supply chains. The projects aims to deliver a report outlining the business benefits and limitations of a grid AM business model on the toy and computer games industry, in addition to the potential for Grid-AM solutions in other higher value manufacturing sectors.