The Institute hosts at its premises an Additive Manufacturing Unit, which has been founded in 2019, and constitutes a state of the art laboratory for rapid product design and development. The scope of this unit comprises the development and the implementation of methods, aiming to optimize the production flow by combining data acquired from various sensors, adapted to modern industrial work environments. Additionally, by utilizing three-dimensional scanners, it can be achieved the digitalization and the development of 3D models of high resolution. The produced models are promoted through a database into a complete 3D printing hub that consists of 3D printers of cutting-edge technology. The automatic selection of the most suitable 3D printer can be accomplished by using machine learning and optimization techniques, and subsequently the configuration of the machine tools parameters is implemented in order to achieve the most optimal production result of the prototype. The main objective is the development of scan-to-print technologies, with emphasis on the optimization of the 3D printing process, while taking into account the shape and volume parameters of the object, the thickness layer, and the optimal material selection based on the mechanical properties and requirements of the desired product.

The research of the Additive Manufacturing Unit focuses on the development of methods for three-dimensional model reconstruction of high resolution and also on the optimal representation and post-processing of these models. At the same time, the research effort of the Additive Manufacture Unit is based on the development of optimization methods for 3D printing by utilizing machine learning techniques for 3D printer selection and parameters configuration in order to optimize the 3D printing procedure.