Strikingly blue, this 6.5 meters long, 2.5 meters wide, 800 kilograms boat, the MAMBO (Motor Additive Manufacturing Boat), is the world’s first 3D printed boat built using KUKA robots—and finished by an expert hand. Moi Composites came up with the idea and then collaborated with leading experts from the automation sector, including Autodesk UK and the boatbuilding industry during the realization of the project.

The first 50 percent of the boat was produced at Autodesk’s advanced production facility in Birmingham, which included parts of the hull produced using KUKA robots. Simultaneously, KR Quantec in Milan printed the second half of the boat. Final assembly of the MAMBO was carried out in a shipyard in Milan where the individual components were joined and coated in order to create a one-piece sandwich structure without hull-deck division. 

The makers want to use the different locations to demonstrate one of the strengths of 3D printing with industrial robots: flexible on-site manufacturing. This process was cloud-based, enabling the team from Moi Composites to monitor progress at all times.

The fiberglass boat is revolutionizing design in boatbuilding

Moi Composites unveiled MAMBO to the world at the “Boat Show” in Genoa a few years ago, where it impressed visitors with its unique design: side elements reminiscent of waves and a fin-like form that becomes more accentuated toward the stern. 

Gabriele Natale and Michele Tonizzo, co-founders of Moi Composites, wanted to use innovative 3D printing with industrial robots to encourage traditional boat builders to exploit the advantages of automation, saying, “This approach not only saves time and materials, but opens up new, unprecedented design possibilities—such as the uniquely-shaped hull of the MAMBO fiberglass boat.” Traditional boatbuilding is not nearly as flexible as 3D printing. Robots have the freedom and precision to produce any conceivable geometric form, including those that could not be realized by other means.

All individual components of MAMBO are made of glass fibers, printed in 3D using the Continuous Fiber Manufacturing (CFM) process patented by Moi Composites. This innovative 3D printing process starts as a three-dimensional model that is processed by software and implemented using robots such as the KR QUANTEC. In this way, the KR QUANTEC can process continuous fibers that are impregnated with thermosetting resin.

CFM not only saves unnecessary weight but also enables a core to be printed that increases the stability of the boat. The technology offers further advantages, too: real-time curing without the need for specific molds. This reduces costs and lowers the profit threshold for companies even in the case of small batches.

For more information: 

KUKA 

Moi Composites

Autodesk

KR Quantec