Makers Lab
Implement your own ideas and hold the result in your hands immediately: This is the motto of the Makers Lab, available to both students and staff of at the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol.
The laboratory equipment allows users to
- test concepts and
- manufacture everything from prototypes to final products and small batches.
In other words, all essential steps in the creation of a product can be performed here.
Our partners
Support from our corporate partners allows us to make available state-of-the-art equipment in the Makers Lab.
Concept development
PC workstations with various CAD programs and a range of programming environments are available for concept development.
Example
In the course Interaction Design & Product Design of the master’s program Smart Products & Solutions, a Data Explorer was developed together with our external lecturer Mara Lindner.
Concept and implementation: Franz Hubauer, Alexander Führen, Markus Ehrlenbach.
The steps from the idea to sketches, a CAD model, and the finished project:
Digitizing real-life objects
Real-life objects can be digitized with the help of 3D scanners.
Rapid prototyping
Rapid prototyping is the rapid production of samples, models, and prototypes from digital drawings (2D or 3D CAD drawings).
Rapid prototyping can be extended to include the terms rapid tooling and rapid manufacturing.
- The aim of rapid tooling is the fast production of tools and tool molds.
- Rapid manufacturing is the rapid production of final products. When looking at production time in this approach, not only pure production time is taken into account, but also the development and construction of the production facilities.
The manufacturing processes used in our Makers Lab are additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, and material processing using a laser engraving machine.
Additive manufacturing
To realize the digital concepts, there are a number of 3D printers to choose from that operate on different principles, such as material extrusion (MEX, FFF, FDM) and stereolithography (DLP).
Laser cutting and engraving
In addition to 3D printing, laser cutting with our laser engraving machine (CO2 laser) is particularly useful for quickly realizing concepts.
Additional equipment
The following tools (and a wealth of others) are available for implementing one’s own ideas.
- Circuit board printer
- PCB milling machine
- Climate test chamber
- Soldering stations
- Measuring devices and gauges
