Illuminated Steering Wheel Equipped With 3D-Printed Electronics

Production-ready, 3D-printed automotive parts have been slowly entering the market the past few years. Now, they’re as important as the thousands of metal and plastic parts produced using traditional casting, injection molding, stamping and machining processes. Techniplas LLC, a global designer and manufacturer of automotive products and services, is well aware of this trend. Early in 2018, the company began an Open Innovation Program for 3D printing companies to validate and mainstream their additive manufacturing equipment for the automotive industry. Nano Dimension Ltd. joined the program that year to make known its capabilities for prototyping and manufacturing 3D-printed electronics such as conductive components, encapsulated sensors and smart surfaces. By the end of 2018, Techniplas unveiled a unique steering wheel concept that combines its proprietary cognitive smart lighting technology with electronics printed on Nano’s DragonFly Pro 3D printer. Engineers at Techniplas use this machine to directly print conductive paths into the steering wheel in one step.