System for additive manufacturing using thin-film material

1. A system for additively manufacturing a structure, comprising:

a feeder configured to feed a film material through the system;

a cutter configured to cut out of the film material a pattern associated with a shape of the structure at a particular layer within the structure;

a placer; and

a controller in communication with the feeder, the cutter, and the placer, the controller being configured to regulate operation of the placer to place the pattern in at least one of a desired location and a desired orientation onto a previously deposited layer of the film material to build up the structure.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the film material is graphene.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the film material includes:

a supply reel; and

a take-up reel located at a side of the cutter opposite the supply reel.

4. The system of claim 3 , further including a set of rollers located between the supply and take-up reels.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the supply reel, the take-up reel, and the set of rollers is driven to rotate by a motor.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cutter is at least one of a laser-type and electron-type of cutter.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to control the cutter to cut less than a complete perimeter of the pattern, such that the pattern is held in place by at least one tether of the film material.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further configured to selectively direct a current pulse through the at least one tether, causing carbon bonds in the pattern to realign with carbon bonds in a previously deposited pattern.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

a majority of the pattern is cut prior to loading of the film material into the feeder; and

the controller is configured to control the cutter to only cut a remaining portion of the pattern.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the placer is an electromagnet located at a side of the film material opposite the cutter; and

the controller is further configured to selectively energize the electromagnet to generate an electric field passing through the film material.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the placer includes at least one of an air jet, a vacuum jet, and an ultrasonic device.

12. The system of claim 1 , further including:

a print bed, wherein the

controller is further configured to:

selectively activate the feeder to move a specific frame of the film material to the cutter;

selectively activate the cutter to cut a specific pattern from the specific frame of the film material; and

selectively activate the placer to move the specific pattern cut from the specific frame of the film material to a specific location onto the previously deposited layer of the film material to build up the structure.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to direct the current pulse through the feeder and the film material to a grounded print bed on which the structure is being fabricated.

14. A system for additively manufacturing a structure, comprising:

a supply reel on which a thin-film material is wound;

a cutter configured to cut out of the thin-film material a pattern associated with a shape of the structure at a particular layer within the structure;

a take-up reel located at a side of the cutter opposite the supply reel;

an electromagnet located at a side of the thin-film material opposite the cutter; and

a controller configured to selectively energize the electromagnet to generate an electric field passing through the thin-film material that moves the pattern against at least one of a print bed and an adjacent layer of the thin-film material.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the controller is further configured to selectively direct a current pulse through the pattern, causing carbon bonds in the pattern to realign with carbon bonds in the adjacent layer.

16. The system of claim 14 , further including at least one of an air jet, a vacuum jet, and an ultrasonic device configured to bias the pattern against the adjacent layer.

17. The system of claim 14 , further including at least one of a laser-type and an electron-type of cutter configured to at least partially cut the pattern into the thin-film material.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein

the cutter is configured to cut less than a complete perimeter of the pattern, such that the pattern is held in place by at least one tether of the thin-film material; and

the controller is further configured to selectively direct a current pulse through the pattern, causing the pattern to break free from a remainder of the thin-film material.

19. The system of claim 14 , further including:

a set of rollers located between the supply and take-up reels; and

a motor configured to selectively drive the set of rollers to accurately place the pattern at a desired location relative to the adjacent layer.

20. The system of claim 14 , wherein the thin-film material is graphene.