Current and future state of America Makes Digital Storefront (DSF) using a three-step approach
Problem
America Makes represents a fraction of activity ongoing in AM research and development (R&D) across the nation. Continued research across the AM technology landscape can offer incredible insight surrounding the current state of additive manufacturing, as well as identify the highest potential opportunities for R&D while avoiding duplication of effort. To date, there is no existing platform to integrate data from various federal investments for AM research. A common data model with a method to identify, characterize, and integrate AM data, that can be readily accessed and consumed by America Makes members is needed.
Objective
The objective of this effort was to identify, characterize, and integrate publicly available data from various federal investments for AM research according to its relevance to the America Makes AM Technology Roadmap data model in the Digital Storefront (DSF).
Technical Approach
A business intelligence tool was leveraged to scour publicly available sources of AM data including the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Solid Freeform (SSF) symposium project. A manual review was conducted of the identified sources to determine if they contained technical data and those that did then underwent a characterization evaluation to align the source to the America Makes AM Technology Roadmap data model before integration with DSF.
Accomplishments
The tools and workflows developed by the team identified various sources containing technical data including 15 from DTIC, 19 from NASA, and 66 from SFF 2019. The data have been uploaded and are available to the America Makes membership. The data can be readily accessed and discovered according to its relevance according to the America Makes AM Technology Roadmap data model.
Project Participants
Project Principal
Other Project Participants
- Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT)
Public Participants
- U.S. Department of Defense