MakerBot 3D printers used for AI-assisted lunar rover for NASA

Lockheed Martin is a global aerospace and defence company, with the mission to connect, protect and explore. The company focuses on next-generation and generation-after-next technologies. In alliance with General Motors, Lockheed Martin is developing a new fully autonomous lunar rover that could be used for NASA’s Artemis programme. This
is a fitting team that pays homage to the original Apollo rover, in which GM was also involved.

Some elements of the rover’s autonomy system’s early design and development are done at Lockheed Martin’s state-of-the-art R&D facility in Palo Alto, California – the Advanced Technology Center (ATC) – which
is well-equipped with a variety of cutting-edge technology, including a lab full of 3D printers. MakerBot 3D printers have been in use for about five years and have provided easily accessible 3D printing for a host of projects for Lockheed Martin’s team of engineers.

“A lot of what we’re able
to help with at the 3D printing lab at ATC is really enabling our engineers to create a range of applications, like test beds, sensor mounts, and prototypes, that further advance the technologies we’re working on,” said Alyssa Ruiz, Research Engineer and Lab Manager, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center.


Prototyping is always an important part of the design process because it allows engineers to test in a real-world environment before going into production – which, in aerospace, means manufacturing low-volume products in expensive materials. Finding issues later in production could mean expensive costs and time overruns...

Read the full article in DPA's November issue