Robots And 3-D Printers Show Off At Hazelwood Green Tech Hub Preview

90.5 WESA | By Katie Blackley

Published November 20, 2017 at 3:14 PM EST

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A MakerBot Replicator 3-D printer creates a small rubber cylinder, which would be used in manufacturing, at a tech preview event at Hazelwood Green's Mill 19 site on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017.

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A live band from the Center of Life in Hazelwood greets visitors to the preview of the Mill 19 tenants, the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017.

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A robot programmed by CapSen Robotics, based in Oakland, sorts through a bin of plastic items using 3-D computer vision and a vaccum in the arm. In a warehouse, the arm can be used to pick up objects to fill orders or assist with assemby lines.

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Metal created by a 3-D printer is displayed by Next Manufacturing, a research center through CMU's College of Engineering. The facility studies the technology behind the 3-D printing of metals and how the process could be improved.

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Dual robotic manipulator arms are demonstrated by RE2 Robotics, based in Lawrenceville. The human controller's movements are replicated by the larger robot and can be mounted onto a larger platform for use in a warehouse or research lab.

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3-D printed body parts and tissue are displayed at the Hazelwood Green Mill 19 preview event on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. Researchers hope the prints can someday be precise enough for use inside humans, assisting with medical processes like heart transplants

Katie Blackley / 90.5 WESA

Pittsburgh-area robotics and 3-D printing companies displayed their designs as part of a preview of the Hazelwood Green’s Mill 19 facility.

The former steel mill will soon be the home to the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute, a public-private partnership between Carnegie Mellon University, community stakeholders and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Hazelwood Green's Mill 19 site will be occupied by members of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute.

Robots demonstrated their ability to assist with manufacturing tasks, like sorting inventory, assembling machines and managing industrial materials. Additionally, 3-D printing technologies featured “bioprinted” body parts, metals and energy efficient building materials.

CMU President Farnam Jahanian said he was glad the former steel mill site was able to find a new life as a technology hub.

“When manufacturing was transforming the world economy, steel was the heart of manufacturing, and Pittsburgh was the center of it all,” Jahanian said. “The city has reinvented itself as the center of a new economy and our academic institutions are playing a central role in this reinvention."

ARM members are the first tenants of Mill 19, which is expected to break ground in spring 2019.