3D Printing

MAMBO powerboat is 3D printed out of fiberglass

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The MAMBO hits the water
Moi Composites
The MAMBO hits the water
Moi Composites
The MAMBO was printed using two Kuka Quantec High Accuracy robots
Moi Composites
The MAMBO receives its "snapper rocks blue" coat of paint
Moi Composites
The MAMBO gets assembled
Moi Composites
The MAMBO measures 6.5 meters long by 2.5 m wide (21.3 by 8.2 ft) and tips the scales at about 800 kg (1,764 lb)
Moi Composites
The MAMBO features a 115-metric horsepower motor, a navigation system, white leather seats and cork flooring
Moi Composites
View gallery - 6 images

Visitors to this year's Genoa Boat Show – which apparently is taking place in a physical venue – will see a rather unique watercraft. Made by Milan-based Moi Composites, the MAMBO is claimed to be the world's first "real" 3D-printed fiberglass boat.

Its name an acronym for Motor Additive Manufacturing BOat, the MAMBO was printed in several pieces via a process known as Continuous Fiber Manufacturing (CFM). This involved using two Kuka Quantec High Accuracy robots – in Milan and at the UK facilities of project partner Autodesk – which built the parts up by strategically depositing and UV-curing continuous fibers impregnated with thermosetting resin.

The completed sections were subsequently joined together and laminated in the shipyard of Italian catamaran manufacturer Catmarine.

The MAMBO gets assembled
Moi Composites

According to Moi, its printing system allows for the creation of products with mechanical characteristics similar to those of traditionally made unidirectional fiberglass, but without the need for molds or other tooling equipment. This reportedly means that fiber-reinforced prototypes or small-run production items can be manufactured relatively cheaply and easily.

Built as a one-off to promote the CFM technology, the finished MAMBO measures 6.5 meters long by 2.5 m wide (21.3 by 8.2 ft) and tips the scales at about 800 kg (1,764 lb). It's fully functional, incorporating a 115-metric horsepower motor, a navigation system, white leather seats and cork flooring.

The 2020 Genoa Boat Show runs until Oct. 6th at the Piazzale John Fitzgerald Kennedy in Genoa, Italy.

Source: Moi Composites

View gallery - 6 images
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9 comments
paul314
The one picture of the boat unfinished looks as if it was printed in exactly the wrong orientation for longterm strength. The glass fibers appear to run up and down the sides of the boat, with no fibers running longitudinally. Typically, interlayer adhesion is where 3D printed structures fail most easily. So in any kind of waves that lead to flexing along the length of the hull, umm. (In WW2 that was reportedly how some liberty ships -- freighters built in as little as 3 days -- sank. They were welded in cross-section pieces from front to back with inadequate longitudinal reinforcing, so if a weld failed the ship would just break.)
riczero-b
All the Calabresi do the MAMBO like the crazy.
piperTom
I like the analysis from paul314, but his worries may be unfounded. In the picture, we can see only the top layer in the finished product. Since fiber-glass would typically use many layers, the underlying layers could easily be addressing the longitudinal strength issue.
Dan Marsh
It's made in small sections, but it would be possible to make larger and longer parts by building a gantry and fixing the robot work arm to that. That way your work envelope is defined by the size of your gantry.
Nelson Hyde Chick
It is one hideous looking boat.
Douglas Bennett Rogers
This could be the defining step tp building large structures in space!
Nobody
Sounds more like this wasn't 3D printed but just 3D glued together.
Moi Team
Thanks for sharing our news about MAMBO. We are also grateful for the comments left by readers, your feedback is appreciated. MAMBO was created using a hybrid manufacturing method: 3D printed sections were joined and laminated using different plies. Photos and video done during preliminary sea tests demonstrated that the boat can navigate for real in security. For future prints, it's possible to orient fibers in other directions, and for scaling print size, a gantry can certainly be used! MAMBO's shape and design was chosen to demonstrate new geometries that only additive manufacturing can achieve. To learn more about our Continuous Fiber Manufacturing technology and MAMBO, check out our website www.moi.am. Happy reading!
Bricorn
"joined together and laminated"?

Isn't the whole point of 3D printing to produce a finished article in one process without the need for all that?